Afternoon Tea Anyone?

[cruiseny4life]

Hey everyone - I know NCL does not offer an afternoon tea, so I am on a project to create my own afternoon tea. I'm curious if anyone else has done this, especially those staying in the Haven? I know the butler will bring me treats, but I need ideas to ask him for (room service type).

 

I'm thinking some sweets (mini cakes/scones/etc.) and tiny sandwiches (kind of like the mini-BLT). Has anyone successfully done this? What did you do? What type of sweets and savories did you order? Are there other options I'm not thinking of?

 

I'd love to hear y'alls experience if you have done this for you and your special darling. 

[BirdTravels]

19 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Hey everyone - I know NCL does not offer an afternoon tea, so I am on a project to create my own afternoon tea. I'm curious if anyone else has done this, especially those staying in the Haven? I know the butler will bring me treats, but I need ideas to ask him for (room service type). I'm thinking some sweets (mini cakes/scones/etc.) and tiny sandwiches (kind of like the mini-BLT). Has anyone successfully done this? What did you do? What type of sweets and savories did you order? Are there other options I'm not thinking of? I'd love to hear y'alls experience if you have done this for you and your special darling. 

 

Small ship's with a great outdoors buffet and Breakaway-Plus ships with observation lounges often have "tea time". Yeah, nothing like a formal tea on Cunard, but scones, cream, jam, and snacks

 

We always order PB&J sandwiches from our butler. 

 

Afternoon Snacks from our Butler (all good with tea!)

 

Note: we always have bowls full of gummy bears, bar mix, and M&Ms (most of which end up in ziplocks for snacking during shore ex). 

 

 

 

[cruiseny4life]

Thank you @BirdTravels! Such a great answer which made me realize I failed to mention I'm sailing on the Getaway. We sailed on her back in April and I don't recall the buffet, probably since it's not a Breakaway Plus ship. Perhaps the butler could bring us canapes, sandwiches, and sweet breads at the same time?

 

My understanding in the Haven (last time) was that each day a different treat was brought to all Haven rooms. I didn't think I could request, but based on your photos it appears there is a wide variety of items that come each day if you have more than two people in the room. 

 

Honestly the buffet you took photos of looks perfect. I'll have to get on one of those larger ships - we're not really interested in the smaller ones as they do not have the Haven Restaurant. 

 

Again, thank you!! Such a wonderful answer.

[complawyer]

if they have it, your butler can get it for you. i like to order a meat,cheese and crackers tray. in the morning i have the butler bring pastries, muffins, and a carafe of coffee, decaf and a pot of hot water for tea

[graphicguy]

Butler will bring just about anything you want in the Haven.  I know I never even asked and finger sandwiches,  canapés, M&Ms would show up in the afternoon. There is a selection of teas always available in your Haven Suite.  You can choose whichever you want (not a tea fan, so don't know if they're good or bad teas).  There's also a hot water maker available for you to make tea.

 

@BirdTravels...I see from your pics you had Anoop as a Concierge.  He's great!  Do you know if he's still around?

Edited July 6, 2022 by graphicguy

[Zippeedee]

At least before the shutdown, the Getaway buffet had scones, cream and small snacks every day at 3pm.

[UKstages]

4 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Perhaps the butler could bring us canapes, sandwiches, and sweet breads at the same time?

 

i'd be extraordinarily careful with your request for "sweet breads."

 

you might wind up with "sweetbreads," which is probably not what you're looking for.

[Two Wheels Only]

31 minutes ago, UKstages said:

 

i'd be extraordinarily careful with your request for "sweet breads."

 

you might wind up with "sweetbreads," which is probably not what you're looking for.

 

 

....what happens when you don't tip the butler?....🤪

[BirdTravels]

5 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Thank you @BirdTravels! Such a great answer which made me realize I failed to mention I'm sailing on the Getaway. We sailed on her back in April and I don't recall the buffet, probably since it's not a Breakaway Plus ship. Perhaps the butler could bring us canapes, sandwiches, and sweet breads at the same time?

 

My understanding in the Haven (last time) was that each day a different treat was brought to all Haven rooms. I didn't think I could request, but based on your photos it appears there is a wide variety of items that come each day if you have more than two people in the room. 

 

Honestly the buffet you took photos of looks perfect. I'll have to get on one of those larger ships - we're not really interested in the smaller ones as they do not have the Haven Restaurant. 

 

Again, thank you!! Such a wonderful answer.

Your butler will bring you the default snack of the day. You can order additional snacks daily (e.g., rather than worrying about the buffet, have your butler bring scones and sandwiches and sweets of your choice). We’re not picky, and ask for a few additional things now and then. We are sailing in the Haven on the Breakaway soon, and will have our butler bring some favorites (you see a lot of strawberries in the photos). 

[BirdTravels]

5 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

My understanding in the Haven (last time) was that each day a different treat was brought to all Haven rooms. I didn't think I could request, but based on your photos it appears there is a wide variety of items that come each day if you have more than two people in the room. 

Your butler will bring anything you want any time of the day or night (you will actually get the night butler after hours). 

 

On busy port days, we have our butler bring breakfast from the Haven restaurant. There will be the normal breakfast "hang tags" for steerage. Just write whatever you want for breakfast on the hang tag and your butler will serve it, in your suite, on a white table cloth. Eggs over easy, egg white omelet with fillings of your choice,  steak, sausage, bacon, ham, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, breakfast potatoes, hash browns, fresh breads, fruit, and a diet pepsi. 

 

 

 

[aloha_DC]

The afternoon snack at the great outdoors they always had a scone of the day with cream and jam. 2 things:  1. One day they had a "snicker's" scone that was fantastic. 2. A different day they had a savory scone yet still had the cream and jam which was a little odd..

Edited July 6, 2022 by aloha_DC

[KarlChilders]

On our last cruise on Escape, we had the romance package to celebrate our 30th anniversary. It included an afternoon tea as pictured here. I expect this could be requested separately.

Edited July 7, 2022 by KarlChilders

[complawyer]

i have our butler bring a pot  of coffee and hot water for tea 1st thing in the morning.

 

i would certainly be up for an afternoon scotch! (lol)

[cruiseny4life]

22 hours ago, complawyer said:

if they have it, your butler can get it for you. i like to order a meat,cheese and crackers tray. in the morning i have the butler bring pastries, muffins, and a carafe of coffee, decaf and a pot of hot water for tea

hmm the charcuterie sounds like a great idea too! the last time we were in the Haven I asked the butler for pastries and coffee at 7 AM. he was great and did this, but then we went to the restaurant. it was too much food! i quickly ended the morning service since we wanted to go have eggs benedict and see our Haven staff...yep they felt like they were ours. I know that's weird, but gosh they are amazing people! 

[cruiseny4life]

21 hours ago, Zippeedee said:

At least before the shutdown, the Getaway buffet had scones, cream and small snacks every day at 3pm.

YUM!!!!! i've got to look into this! we didn't notice on our last cruise, but we only ventured into the buffet a couple of times.

[cruiseny4life]

21 hours ago, UKstages said:

 

i'd be extraordinarily careful with your request for "sweet breads."

 

you might wind up with "sweetbreads," which is probably not what you're looking for.

oh my gosh i had to google sweet breads! Ok i'm going to go with scones, pastries, BANANA bread 🙂 

[cruiseny4life]

20 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Your butler will bring you the default snack of the day. You can order additional snacks daily (e.g., rather than worrying about the buffet, have your butler bring scones and sandwiches and sweets of your choice). We’re not picky, and ask for a few additional things now and then. We are sailing in the Haven on the Breakaway soon, and will have our butler bring some favorites (you see a lot of strawberries in the photos). 

strawberries every single day for the husband @BirdTravels!! I swear he loves those chocolate dipped strawberries more than me. 

[cruiseny4life]

19 hours ago, aloha_DC said:

The afternoon snack at the great outdoors they always had a scone of the day with cream and jam. 2 things:  1. One day they had a "snicker's" scone that was fantastic. 2. A different day they had a savory scone yet still had the cream and jam which was a little odd..

Thanks! Savory with cream and jam is a bit odd...unfortunately I don't think the Getaway has a great outdoors

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, complawyer said:

i have our butler bring a pot  of coffee and hot water for tea 1st thing in the morning.

 

i would certainly be up for an afternoon scotch! (lol)

scotch...ethanol...gasoline, that's how i think scotch tastes. i'm glad others enjoy a nice neat/on the rocks scotch, but i'll stay far, far, far away from it!! 🙂

[complawyer]

cruiseny4life. i would hate to have you spend the entire  cruise sober.  ok, depending on the ship, stop by sugarcane and have one of their many different mojitos, or grab a manhattan, or in the absolute alternative, an ice cold heineken.

 

if none of the above meet any of your needs, how about a nice cold glass of milk and some oatmeal raisin cookies. on ncl they are the best (lol)

[cruiseny4life]

16 hours ago, complawyer said:

cruiseny4life. i would hate to have you spend the entire  cruise sober.  ok, depending on the ship, stop by sugarcane and have one of their many different mojitos, or grab a manhattan, or in the absolute alternative, an ice cold heineken.

 

if none of the above meet any of your needs, how about a nice cold glass of milk and some oatmeal raisin cookies. on ncl they are the best (lol)

Oh don't worry - I'll have some booze! Hah...rum and coke, though I'm still perturbed NCL doesn't carry Capt! Also...rum and pepsi is so, well it's workable, but not great. 

 

Honestly though, after a Long Island, rum and coke, I get bored, so Sugarcane it is! Or some random drink I find online that sounds yummy. I'm really not particular about my source of alcoholic delight. I've definitely had some I'll never have again, but I find winners all the time that I order again and again. Mai Tai anyone? Yum!!

 

Milk and cookies - that's one of our evening delights in the Haven! You do know how to cruise @complawyer

[complawyer]

try a manhattan! had one on the jade last april.  WOW! also, after dinner, i always order a glass of port, nice, smooth and goes well with a cappuccino!