Live from Nieuw Statendam Premier Voyage, December 2018

[bleacher04]

21 minutes ago, firecrewcapt said:

Wow, there's a lot of assuming here. My comment wasn't directed at anyone, it was an opinion, let me say I really enjoy all the info/pics, we'll be on the ship in April for 21 days and will be better aware of the amenities/food/areas for following this thread. The whining and complaining happens on all threads/cruises. 

 

At the risk of unnecessarily dragging this out, you have a funny way of showing your thanks...

 

I have been fortunate enough to have sailed with one of the originators of this blog / thread, and toured and dined with them.  They are gracious, wonderful people, and in 18 days at sea, and in this thread, I have found them to helpful and welcoming.  It takes a lot of work to blog from a ship (I know), and a lot of internet time ($$), and time spent writing and responding to posts, for which I, for one, am grateful.

[kazu]

4 minutes ago, bleacher04 said:

 

At the risk of unnecessarily dragging this out, you have a funny way of showing your thanks...

 

I have been fortunate enough to have sailed with one of the originators of this blog / thread, and toured and dined with them.  They are gracious, wonderful people, and in 18 days at sea, and in this thread, I have found them to helpful and welcoming.  It takes a lot of work to blog from a ship (I know), and a lot of internet time ($$), and time spent writing and responding to posts, for which I, for one, am grateful.

 

+1.

 

100% agree with you.  I've had the pleasure to sail with Ann & Sherita and agree 200% with your very accurate comments. 🙂. Like you, I know how much work it is to blog from the ship and am so appreciative of the time, effort and $ to share with us.

[Copper10-8]

14 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

Hi, Copper, welcome aboard!  Do you know Czaba?  He has been very good to us on two or three cruises.  He also took over from Andrew when Andrew broke his ankle on Zaandam last year.  He is trying some new stuff here on NS.  I think there are 800 or so 4 and 5-star passengers, so he’s pretty busy!

 

I’m eating lots of Dutch stuff!  Will try to remember to take pictures.  Breakfast is great in the Lido.  All kinds of new stations.  

 

Yes, worked with him a couple of years ago, I believe Noordam! Great guy! Enjoy your travels Ann

[rkacruiser]

3 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

I’m eating lots of Dutch stuff!  Will try to remember to take pictures.  Breakfast is great in the Lido.  All kinds of new stations.  

 

Pictures and/or descriptions of what you are finding and enjoying would be most welcome.

[Copper10-8]

15 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

Hi, Copper, welcome aboard!  Do you know Czaba?  He has been very good to us on two or three cruises.  He also took over from Andrew when Andrew broke his ankle on Zaandam last year.  He is trying some new stuff here on NS.  I think there are 800 or so 4 and 5-star passengers, so he’s pretty busy!

 

I’m eating lots of Dutch stuff!  Will try to remember to take pictures.  Breakfast is great in the Lido.  All kinds of new stations.  

 

You guys need to try the "Uitsmijter" in the Dutch Cafe once for breakfast 😜 Good stuff!

[HeinBloed]

A few pictures of the yesterday's call of NIEUW STATENDAM in Cartagena, Spain could be found in my blog:

 

https://heinbloed-hal.blogspot.com/2018/12/shipspotting-nieuw-statendam-in.html

 

I was coming at 06:30 hrs to welcome the beauty and no crew-friends was waving back... so disappointing... and I easy to identify: an orange scarf just... for Holland...

Regards
HeinBloed

[scluvsrain]

If we’ve been quiet here for a bit it’s because our internet crashed for the bulk of yesterday. I went ashore in Malaga around 8:30 in the morning and returned around 2:00 PM. The internet and the intranet both were not working. 

 

Of course I called the front desk and the woman there didn’t even know. She tried to log in while we were on the phone and discovered that she too could not get on. 

 

Throughout thr the rest of the day and well into the evening I kept trying with no success. I finally went to bed. And now it’s the middle of the night and I’m awake and the system appears to be back up again. Yay!

 

 

Edited December 9, 2018 by scluvsrain

[scluvsrain]

I had dinner at the Pinnacle last night. It was fantastic! New menu. Old standby items and new items. Each dish I ordered was a new one and was not disappointed except for one. For starters I had the iceberg wedge salad and the candied

bacon. The iceberg had virtually no dressing on it so it might as well have been just a slice out of the fridge. But the candies bacon more than made up for the lackluster lettuce!

[kazu]

10 minutes ago, scluvsrain said:

If we’ve been quiet here for a bit it’s because our internet crashed for the bulk of yesterday. I went ashore in Malaga around 8:30 in the morning and returned around 2:00 PM. The internet and the intranet both were not working. 

 

Of course I called the front desk and the woman there didn’t even know. She tried to log in while we were on the phone and discovered that she too could not get on. 

 

Throughout thr the rest of the day and well into the evening I kept trying with no success. I finally went to bed. And now it’s the middle of the night and I’m awake and the system appears to be back up again. Yay!

 

 

 

Sorry to hear about the internet, Sherita. 😞. I know all to well how frustating and time consuming that can be. 

 

Glad to hear it is back working for you.

 

But what the heck are you doing up???

 

Appreciate your dedication for sure 😄 

[cruzingnut]

5 minutes ago, scluvsrain said:

If we’ve been quiet here for a bit it’s because our internet crashed for the bulk of yesterday. I went ashore in Malaga around 8:30 in the morning and returned around 2:00 PM. The internet and the intranet both were not working. 

 

Of course I called the front desk and the woman there didn’t even know. She tried to log in while we were on the phone and discovered that she too could not get on. 

 

Throughout thr the rest of the day and well into the evening I kept trying with no success. I finally went to bed. And now it’s the middle of the night and I’m awake and the system appears to be back up again. Yay!

 

 

 

She gets up in the middle of the night and checks the internet AND posts!  Now, that is dedication, lol!!!!  Back to bed, woman!  I lurk mostly, but have been reading all the posts with great interest!  Thank you!

 

Linda R.

[scluvsrain]

For my main I chose the new tenderloin and a side dish of roasted baby beets. The tenderloin was perfection. The beets were quite good. 

[galipemi]

That's my dream dinner right there!!

[cruzingnut]

Sherita, when you get a chance, could you post the new Pinnacle menu?  I'm so hoping the pork chop is still on it!

 

Thanks,

Linda R.

[scluvsrain]

And for dessert I had key lime pie. Heaven!! And a lovely strong cup of decaf. And no, it’s not the reason I’m awake 2:00 AM. My sleep schedule has been out of whack all week. 

 

Photos are uploading very slowly so I will post the new menu piecemeal. 

[kazu]

3 minutes ago, scluvsrain said:

For my main I chose the new tenderloin and a side dish of roasted baby beets. The tenderloin was perfection. The beets were quite good. 

 

 

Great pics!  The candied bacon sounds intriguing along with the 'new' tenderloin and beets.  I don't remember beets on the menu in the past.

[scluvsrain]

1 minute ago, cruzingnut said:

Sherita, when you get a chance, could you post the new Pinnacle menu?  I'm so hoping the pork chop is still on it!

 

Thanks,

Linda R.

The pork chop is alive and well!

[Copper10-8]

3 minutes ago, scluvsrain said:

And for dessert I had key lime pie. Heaven!! And a lovely strong cup of decaf. And no, it’s not the reason I’m awake 2:00 AM. My sleep schedule has been out of whack all week. 

 

Photos are uploading very slowly so I will post the new menu piecemeal. 

 

I thought key lime pie was green? That bad boy looks like a slice of pumpkin pie  

[scluvsrain]

Here’s the start of the Pinnacle menu. 

Small plates/appetizers 

[cruzingnut]

Copper, "real" Key Lime pie isn't green....that is actually the right color.  I thought the same thing until I moved to South Florida where there is plenty of Key Lime pie to be had.

 

Linda R.

[scluvsrain]

[Copper10-8]

Just now, cruzingnut said:

Copper, "real" Key Lime pie isn't green....that is actually the right color.  I thought the same thing until I moved to South Florida where there is plenty of Key Lime pie to be had.

 

Linda R.

 

Thanks for edumecating about key lime pie, Ma'am! Shows you how much I know. Mucho appreciated! 

[scluvsrain]

Mains 

 

[oaktreerb]

On 12/7/2018 at 7:30 AM, scluvsrain said:

Oh. And I ran into Orlando Ashford this afternoon so I talked with him for a few minutes. I told him I really like that they moved Lincoln Center and that I can see that with a lot of the changes that are happening, it looks like our voices have been heard in many areas. He appreciated that. I asked him to clarify his comments about the $2 million loss of library books. Those are HAL-wide, not Carnival-wide. He said even if they put back a librarian the books still get stolen. Then, ladies and gentlemen, I asked him what on earth is up with HAL’s new website. He grimaced but said they’re working on it and hope to see steady improvements over the next six months. Since he had some melting ice cream in his hand, I didn’t keep him any longer. 

You go girl!  You asked the $64,000 question......”what on earth is up with HAL’s new website?”   Good for you!  I think 6 months is too long to make it user friendly.  Thanks for bringing it to his attention from a consumer perspective.

 

RE; the library.  Is there a place for a book exchange?  It’s a little early in the cruise but surely some people will want to drop off books that they have finished reading....and maybe pick up another one.

[scluvsrain]

 Desserts

 

 

[scluvsrain]

I didn’t see a shelf for book swapping. But I will go look again.