HAL bread is not very interesting

[Sea42]

Perhaps it was some kind of temporary aberration. I've never experienced that in Tuscany. Now they do encourage you to put a little olio d'oliva on your Florentine beefsteak -- and THAT is delicious. ;)

 

Further references:

 

http://www.elizabethminchilli.com/2017/10/10-rules-eating-bread-italy/

 

http://tuscantraveler.com/2012/florence/italian-food-rule-dont-dip-bread-in-olive-oil-balsamic-vinegar/

Maybe it was because it was harvest time(mid October)? I don't know but we certainly enjoyed it!

FYI, no balsamic involved just salt and pepper..

[Alberta Quilter]

It's been a while since I've cruised but that will change in a couple of months. I try not to eat the rolls at dinner but cannot stay away from the onion flatbread that was served in the Lido at lunchtime on past cruises. I absolutely adore it. Can someone who has recently sailed advise if that bread is still available?! Thank you!

[ellieanne]

On my very first cruise, we were sitting in the conference room at the hotel where HAL was holding arriving passengers mixed with departing passengers and the people in the row of chairs in front of us were discussing the cruise experiences. The departing passengers were telling the new ones all bayou the cruise and how great it was and what you could do and see and experience. One of the new passengers listened politely to the explanation and then asked one of the departing passengers "But are the rolls hard?" It's become a family joke now.

 

Truly, I have never had a problem with HAL breads. I love them. I find there is a set number of varieties, but the selection varies daily and that's nice. My favorites are the sun-dried tomato breads and the challah. And, no, I've never had a hard roll on HAL.

[SetAnOpenCourse]

Just a FYI so one doesn't embarrass themselves in Italy: that's a big no in Italy. However as Olive Garden customers go to Italy, some places that serve the "Italian" food the tourists are used to will place the olive oil (and balsamic vinegar) or worse, butter, on the table.

 

Bread is only dipped in olive oil when tasting the new oil from the freshly pressed olive crop of the year.

 

What would Leo Buscgaglia say? I think, if you like it dipped in olive oil, ask for it!

[TiogaCruiser]

I agree OP. Most of the breads and pastries are mass produced frozen products that are simply baked off on the ship. Not terrible, yet not high quality either.

So when did that start happening?

[ellieanne]

So when did that start happening?

 

On my New Year's cruise, they were making bread fresh each morning. The gluten-free breads were frozen and thawed, but the standard breads were baked fresh.

[mjminseattle]

Here is a really stupid question. Why do the words "cool cruiser" appear below the name of the person posting?

[OlsSalt]

I agree OP. Most of the breads and pastries are mass produced frozen products that are simply baked off on the ship. Not terrible, yet not high quality either.

 

File that statement under fake news according to a recent Coffee Chat with the Culinary Director about a month ago. He was celebrating the HAL fresh bread traditions unless I was hearing this wrong. So I would say HAL takes pride in the large variety of daily fresh baked breads. It is one of the very welcomed highlights cruising on HAL -their fresh breads. They are excellent.

[Sea42]

That label is based on the number of posts a person has. As you get to thousands and thousands of posts it changes to something else.

Here is a really stupid question. Why do the words "cool cruiser" appear below the name of the person posting?

 

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[OlsSalt]

So when did that start happening?

 

Never. Except if someone needs gluten-free. I believe those are packaged elsewhere for safety purposes. and then brought onboard. But any kitchen tour on any ship shows where all the fresh breads are being made and resting before they get baked. Is someone saying they now use frozen dough?

[Fouremco]

Here is a really stupid question. Why do the words "cool cruiser" appear below the name of the person posting?

It's a reflection of the number of posts you have on CC. Cool Cruiser, Blue Ribbon Cruiser, 5000+ Club, etc.. I don't recall them all or the number of posts required for each level, but you'll be able to get the idea.

[kwb101]

Here is a really stupid question. Why do the words "cool cruiser" appear below the name of the person posting?

It's your default "user title". To change it, click your nickname at the upper right, click Edit Your Details, then scroll down to Custom User Title in the right column. Good luck!

Also, we love HAL's bread! It was always fresh and interesting. We saw their bakery on a galley tour on Maasdam in May, and it's the real thing, with some expensive equipment for making baked goods from scratch, not just ovens for frozen dough.

Edited July 2, 2018 by kwb101

[OlsSalt]

A few years ago the "suits" at HAL realized that they could save a lot of money by getting rid of the bakery department.

Quite a bit of machinery is required to produce fresh bread in mass quantities.

That machinery is noisy, resulting in noise complaints from cabins located below the bakery (poor design).

Much of that machinery has endemic cleaning problems with USPH health inspections, and it requires expensive maintenance.

Recruiting, paying, and housing bakers onboard costs money.

 

So they decided to shift their bread-making to frozen dough. Just unwrap it and pop it in the oven for the listed time.

No bakers needed - crew cabins saved.

Pot washers and kitchen assistants can handle the baking.

No noisy mixers, sheet rollers, or proofing cabinets needed.

Nobody needs to clean those difficult machines anymore. Wrap them in plastic and put "out of service" signs on them for health inspections.

No more expensive maintenance required.

Fewer noise complaints received from passengers.

 

HAL has saved a lot of money in the process - and until now, hardly anyone has noticed the difference.

 

interesting. I admit, count me as one who hardly noticed this shift. The breads remain very good and we think are a highlight for the grab-and go sandwiches.

[SilvertoGold]

It's been a while since I've cruised but that will change in a couple of months. I try not to eat the rolls at dinner but cannot stay away from the onion flatbread that was served in the Lido at lunchtime on past cruises. I absolutely adore it. Can someone who has recently sailed advise if that bread is still available?! Thank you!

 

A couple of months ago, YES!

Edited July 2, 2018 by SilvertoGold

[Walfam]

Lido for breakfast was a fast trip to the section of bread and rolls - they had the best raisin bread - more like a Challah bread with raisins. Soft and eggy - didn't even wait to toast it - just put butter on it and maybe some raspberry jam and total heaven. And I typically do NOT like raisin bread !

 

Can't comment on other breakfast breads because I didn't want to waste calories on anything but my fav raisin bread.

 

OMG yes! I ate them plain. You mean there were other types of bread??? LOL

 

Once I discovered those raisin bun rolls in Lido, that's all I wanted for bread, even put one in a ziplock bag for excursion snacks ... it was an addiction. I hope they're on our next HAL ship.

[SilvertoGold]

A poster mentioned hard rolls. This happened on one cruise, every evening. I could take a spoon and hit the top of a roll and get the attention of everyone within 15 feet. Inedible.

 

The waiters were perplexed and were getting a lot of complaints. It was a running joke for them: "you don't want any of this bread, so I won't put it on your table".

[SilvertoGold]

OMG yes! I ate them plain. You mean there were other types of bread??? LOL

 

Once I discovered those raisin bun rolls in Lido, that's all I wanted for bread, even put one in a ziplock bag for excursion snacks ... it was an addiction. I hope they're on our next HAL ship.

 

The raisin buns are a HAL standard. I can't imagine HAL discontinuing them!

[kwb101]

A few years ago the "suits" at HAL realized that they could save a lot of money by getting rid of the bakery department.

Quite a bit of machinery is required to produce fresh bread in mass quantities.

That machinery is noisy, resulting in noise complaints from cabins located below the bakery (poor design).

Much of that machinery has endemic cleaning problems with USPH health inspections, and it requires expensive maintenance.

Recruiting, paying, and housing bakers onboard costs money.

 

So they decided to shift their bread-making to frozen dough. Just unwrap it and pop it in the oven for the listed time.

No bakers needed - crew cabins saved.

Pot washers and kitchen assistants can handle the baking.

No noisy mixers, sheet rollers, or proofing cabinets needed.

Nobody needs to clean those difficult machines anymore. Wrap them in plastic and put "out of service" signs on them for health inspections.

No more expensive maintenance required.

Fewer noise complaints received from passengers.

 

HAL has saved a lot of money in the process - and until now, hardly anyone has noticed the difference.

What's your source? We saw a real bakery on Maasdam in May (it had a commercial floor mixer that usually costs at least $30K, among other machines, and was in use), not just a bunch of ovens.

Also, the Captain proudly announced at Fort Lauderdale that the USPHS had given the ship a score of 99, no mean feat,

Edited July 2, 2018 by kwb101

[MisterBill99]

I am particularly fond of the multigrain rolls, yum. My waiters bring me olive oil and minced garlic so I can fix a plate to dip Italian style. That first glass of wine always taste better with bread.

The ones with the sunflower seeds on the outside? If so, I agree that they were excellent. A really great assistant maitre'd on our recent Kdam cruise (whose station I started requesting after sitting in his area one meal) actually managed to get a big plate of them for us on more than one occasion after we had asked for more of them.

 

Wish I'd thought of the oil and garlic idea!

 

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Edited July 2, 2018 by MisterBill99

[Roz]

Ah...raisin buns. Je t'amore mon petit! On my last HAL cruise I disciplined myself to only eat two the entire 7 days.

 

Roz

[MisterBill99]

A few years ago the "suits" at HAL realized that they could save a lot of money by getting rid of the bakery department.

Frozen dough isn't necessarily bad. The frozen bake at home chocolate croissants I buy at Trader Joe's beat anything I've ever had on a cruise ship.

 

 

 

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[Bookited]

They don't seem to change their bread choices during the entire cruise. We've sailed over 20X on HAL ships and the same selection on every cruise. Other lines offer a wider choice and vary every day. The bread is not very good.

 

Spent 40 days aboard the Noordam this spring and I was delighted when I got a repeat of the roll I really wanted to arm wrestle DH for the last one of. I do not recall having a duplicate bread basket 2 days in a row during the entire cruise.

[rsldonk]

These boards just confirm that people will complain about literally everything

 

 

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[Judie]

Ah...raisin buns. Je t'amore mon petit! On my last HAL cruise I disciplined myself to only eat two the entire 7 days.

 

 

 

Roz

 

 

 

I could never stop at two in seven days! OMG, sooooo good

 

 

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[Dancing Shoes]

If the rolls are as good as everyone is talking about, I'm in trouble.