Nearly Live from Oosterdam Med Empires June 13th - 25th.

[VMax1700]

The menu

 

 

 

Cold Appetizers

[VMax1700]

meatball

 

 

[VMax1700]

our entertainer

 

[highscar]

Those little ‘sheets “ beside the bed said GOOD NIGHT on the Nordham a few years ago.  

[cruzingnut]

3 hours ago, highscar said:

Those little ‘sheets “ beside the bed said GOOD NIGHT on the Nordham a few years ago.  

 

The say goodnight on the side facing you as you get into bed and when getting up, they say good morning on the other edge.  I didn't realize that at first until I looked at it more closely.  We go slippers with ours too; are they still giving those out?  We have had to ask for them on occasion. 

 

Linda R.

[USN59-79]

6 hours ago, highscar said:

Those little ‘sheets “ beside the bed said GOOD NIGHT on the Nordham a few years ago.  

I have never seen them before.  What is their purpose?

Ray

[oakridger]

Quote:  "I have never seen them before.  What is their purpose?

Ray"

 

To keep your delicate feet clean before you put on your slippers! 

😉

I thought they had gone the way of the dinosaurs!

 

~Nancy

[VMax1700]

18 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Day 4 Upgrade Surf to Premium Internet package was $50 for 9 days (1 device)

Day 5 ...............................................................................  $50 for 8 days (1 device)

Day 6 ...............................................................................  $40 for 7 days (1 device)

Day 7 ......................................................................................$30 for 6 days (1 device)

 

I may splash out later on it.  Just to try to watch the Canadian F1. I just need to work out the timings/time difference.

The sports channel on the stateroom TV is showing the MotoGP live from Sachsenring, Germany.

[VMax1700]

Before posting today's menus and W&W, I will just reflect slightly on last nights dinner cruise.  We booked it as one of our HIA excursion credits.

For those with mobility difficulties the tour would be problematic.  The walk from the ship to the tour bus is long.  The dinner is eaten on the top floor of the dinner ship.  There is no possibility to eat at a lower level.  The top floor is accessed by a narrow winding stairs.  I did not see any elevator, but I did not ask.

There was no commentary on the ship, so we had no idea what was on the shorelines.  The ship just headed up the river beyond the suspension bridge, turned around and went back to its mooring.

The food was adequate.  The chicken was very nice and juicy.  The cheese was really good, and went well with the red wine.  There was red and white wine (we were offered rose, and some ordered it, but were given red instead) soft drinks and on the table were bottles of water.  These were all included in the price.  The only limit to the drinks appeared to be the speed of the service.  The waiters served the drinks between serving the different meal courses.  However, I heard no one complain (too much!) about the volume of drinks.

The entertainment consisted of a female singer/guitar and a sax player.  When they took a break there was pre recorded music both Turkish and Western.

Then the belly dancer.

When the buses returned to the cruise terminal (access through the underground car park/bus park) there was a security check, which was slow.  Everything out of pockets. belts removed and wrist watch in the tray.  Many were getting the wand waved over them because of prior surgical procedures.  Then a further walk to the gates where our keycards were scanned.  At this point we should have been turning 'right' toward the ship, but the flow was to the left and through the obligatory duty free shop, before doubling back for the long walk to the ship. 

Was it enjoyable? - yes.

Could it be improved on?  Very much so!

Was it good value?  Come on it is a HAL shore excursion! Do you really expect good value?

Would we do it again? No.

Would we do it again on a private tour at half the price?  Probably not.

[VMax1700]

Today's When & Where Sunday 19th June, Day 7

 

[VMax1700]

Today's MDR and Lido Dinner menus:

 

 

 

[VMax1700]

Lido lunch menu

 

[VMax1700]

@Torquer  For today's sailaway from Istanbul, When & Where lists:

 

4pm. Scenic Narration: Can be heard in Explorations Central (deck 10), outside decks and forward camera channel.

Hopefully 'outside decks' includes the bow!

Will post what happens.

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for the honest review of the shore excursion.  

[VMax1700]

Today's bread pudding 🤣

 

(this one is for Mike @Dunmore2)

That way he gets the calories, not me!!

 

 

 

[Dunmore2]

You are so thoughtful. Can’t wait to meet you in November. I’ll treat you to a bread pudding on board!
Mike

[puppycanducruise]

Happy to see the bread pudding.  Yum!

[VMax1700]

Tonight in Lido was Turkish Dinner.

Lots of special foods, including fresh fruits:

 

 

For some reason, the sight of these delicacies produced cries of delight that were almost org@smic in some.

 

 

 

[VMax1700]

Tonight was also Pinnacle Grill night.

 

 

Crab Cakes

 

Scallops

 

 

Mash

 

[VMax1700]

Cheese Board

 

 

 

Overall I thought the meal poor.  The scallops were not really seared properly and they were chewy.  

The cheese plate was a joke.  We all know that there are no crackers, but one piece of bread?  If you look closely at the parmesan, it still has the marks of where someone had already grated some of it.

 

[maggieq]

On 6/15/2022 at 8:21 AM, VMax1700 said:

Good afternoon from Katakolo, Greece.

We woke up this morning, drew back the curtains and this wonderful view greeted us from our starboard side stateroom:

 

 

 

So imagine the shock to the system when we looked over the port side of the Lido deck and saw this moored in town too......

 

 

I have seen its sister ships sail on the PE webcams and thought they looked ugly, but in real life, they truly are ugly.  There was another Celebrity ship moored further away too.

 

 

The interior of the edge class ships are quite stunning.  

[VMax1700]

10 hours ago, maggieq said:

The interior of the edge class ships are quite stunning.  

The exterior is quite stunning too.  But for the wrong reasons.

 

[VMax1700]

Good morning from (almost) Mykonos.

Here is today's When & Where

 

[VMax1700]

Today's MDR and Lido Dinner menus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[VMax1700]

Today's lunch menu in Lido