High tea

[happytotravel]

Hi,

Is "High Tea" still done during a cruise or any other type of "tea"?  I will be on the Volendam in June.

Thanks, happytotravel

[CruiserBruce]

Yes. A thread from a couple weeks ago:

 

 

[Overhead Fred]

There are usually (or at least often) afternoon teas on sea days at 3 pm. What type of tea (Dutch, Indonesian, regular...) may depend on the itinerary. 

[Reader317]

I am looking forward to high tea while on our TA cruise next month! One of my favorite things on ship!

[3rdGenCunarder]

Sorry to be pedantic, but it isn't "high tea." It's afternoon tea. High tea is more of a meal and usually contains hot food, not just little sandwiches. It isn't fancier than afternoon tea, it's more to eat.

 

I was disappointed in the Dutch Tea on Zaandam last month. It seemed to be their usual afternoon tea offerings. A woman at the table had lived in the Netherlands and she didn't see anything particularly "Dutch" about it. 

 

I know the tea stands are pretty, but they put out two of them on a table for 6. Even if it's three couples (and more often, there are a few solos), it's awkward sharing when each stand has no extras. Three different sandwiches on the bottom, two scones and something else in the middle, and three small sweets on the top. A table for six should have three of the stands. I know you can ask for more, but it's hard to flag down a waiter to do that. 

[BetsyS.]

Back in the 70s and 80s, I had afternoon tea on the QE2 and that was wonderful.

It was a tough act to follow! 😊

[3rdGenCunarder]

18 minutes ago, BetsyS. said:

Back in the 70s and 80s, I had afternoon tea on the QE2 and that was wonderful.

It was a tough act to follow! 😊

 

I loved QE2! The current Cunard queens are following nicely in her wake, so to speak. The waiters still walk out in a sort of parade, with their teapots, and make their way through the Queens Room. And the goodies are served generously from trays. Ohhh, now I'm in the mood for a fresh scone!!!

[AncientWanderer]

We like the new tea service with the stands a lot better than the old way where the waiters came around with trays offering goodies.  It was distracting waiting around for the trays.  And the baked goods seem to be better than before as well.

 

We observed that many people request the number of stands they want for their party size and the waiters happily oblige.  The trick is to ask right away so you're all squared away to enjoy your tea experience.  I really enjoy the tea time now, whereas before I seriously did not.  Have a good time @happytotravel!

[Haljo1935]

Christmas Tea on K'dam.

 

[*Miss G*]

I like their little hats!

[RuthC]

3 hours ago, Reader317 said:

I am looking forward to high tea while on our TA cruise next month! One of my favorite things on ship!

To confirm what Kathy posted: 
Please don't be too disappointed when 'high tea' is not served. HAL will have 'low tea', also known as 'afternoon tea'. 

To my knowledge, HAL has never served 'high tea'. The closest they ever came was when they served the Royal Dutch Tea, but I haven't seen that in years. 

[CNSJ]

3 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

Dutch Tea on Zaandam

I am not sure what Dutch tea is.  Isn't most tea imported from Asia?

[RuthC]

7 minutes ago, CNSJ said:

I am not sure what Dutch tea is.  Isn't most tea imported from Asia?

At the Royal Dutch Tea it wasn't the tea that came from Netherlands, it was the style of the foods, and presentation. 
There were a lot of hot foods in chafing dishes, as well as some pastries. It was a full meal and an excellent substitute for a late lunch. 

The Indonesian Tea had several teas from Asia, as well as Indonesian coffee, and several different Indonesian sweet treats. 
The Cupcake Tea had a selection of (what else) cupcakes! (they all tended to taste the same, though).

[happytotravel]

Thank you all,

Those photos are great. I will be very happy with that style tea.

happytotravel 

[Heidi13]

10 hours ago, happytotravel said:

Hi,

Is "High Tea" still done during a cruise or any other type of "tea"?  I will be on the Volendam in June.

Thanks, happytotravel

 

I'll suggest you are thinking of "Afternoon Tea", which is a different meal than "High Tea" and is also served at a different time.

 

High Tea is a full plated hot meal, which is also served with tea and some treats. It is usually served from 17:00. When I was growing up, this was commonly served in the village pub, where we could have a beer or wine.

 

Afternoon Tea is more common on cruise ships and is a lighter fare, served about 15:00 - 16:00. It includes tea and the triple decker plate of finger sarnies, scones and sweet treats.

[ExArkie]

16 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

Sorry to be pedantic, but it isn't "high tea." It's afternoon tea. High tea is more of a meal and usually contains hot food, not just little sandwiches. It isn't fancier than afternoon tea, it's more to eat.

Gee, I was hoping I could be the first person to be pedantic this time. I’ll have to be quicker in the future. 

[Lakesregion]

On 3/15/2024 at 6:18 PM, Haljo1935 said:

Christmas Tea on K'dam.

 

Those photos are rather misleading as they look terrific for one or two people. However, that offering is for an entire table of 8 people. Everyone gets one finger sandwich and one sweet unless you are fortunate to drag a passing waitstaff member over and ask for additional items. Very far from  any decent land based tea room and not even on the same planet as the Cunard aftenoon tea.

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, Lakesregion said:

Those photos are rather misleading as they look terrific for one or two people. However, that offering is for an entire table of 8 people. Everyone gets one finger sandwich and one sweet unless you are fortunate to drag a passing waitstaff member over and ask for additional items. Very far from  any decent land based tea room and not even on the same planet as the Cunard aftenoon tea.

 

Last month, at a rectangular table for 6, we had two of the stands. 

 

A year ago, at a round table for 8, which is what the second picture seems to show, same thing. One stand in the middle of the table. I don't know what they were thinking when they set it up that way. We did find a waiter and get more food brought to us. 

 

[Blackduck59]

Personally I was not that impressed with "Afternoon Tea". Each one of those stands should be for 2 people, and if you are going to add a new couple to a table after the fact (when the stand is picked over); then bring a new stand. If you're going to do "Afternoon Tea" then do it, rinky tea is just an insult to the tradition. We will see what we get next year on Westerdam, we will be on her for 6 weeks so I guess we will have several chances to see what they serve.

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Blackduck59 said:

Personally I was not that impressed with "Afternoon Tea". Each one of those stands should be for 2 people, and if you are going to add a new couple to a table after the fact (when the stand is picked over); then bring a new stand. If you're going to do "Afternoon Tea" then do it, rinky tea is just an insult to the tradition. We will see what we get next year on Westerdam, we will be on her for 6 weeks so I guess we will have several chances to see what they serve.

 

Don't see any bowls with clotted cream and jam on the table, and where are the fresh scones, which are my favourite part of Afternoon Tea.

[oakridger]

I haven't returned to the HAL afternoon tea since my first one in 2006. I think the Crow's Nest, or some other "lounge" type place is a better atmosphere than the noisy dining room sitting at a table for 6 or 8.  I miss the real clotted cream for scones and some nice classical or easy listening live music.  That's how I like my tea service! 🫖

 

I guess it isn't traditional, but I prefer a cart with a selection of the treats going to each table so we can select what and how many of each item we want.  

 

That's my wish list for afternoon tea!

 

~Nancy

[Haljo1935]

4 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Last month, at a rectangular table for 6, we had two of the stands. 

 

A year ago, at a round table for 8, which is what the second picture seems to show, same thing. One stand in the middle of the table. I don't know what they were thinking when they set it up that way. We did find a waiter and get more food brought to us. 

 

Correct - round table for 8 with 7 present. There was 1 stand when we sat down and very quickly a server dropped off another one w/o us asking. We asked him for another one (so we could have 3 total for the table); it took a while, but we did get the 3rd stand.

 

Tea refills were slow at first, but seems once they finished delivering extra stands, the tea refills came quicker.

[3rdGenCunarder]

42 minutes ago, oakridger said:

I haven't returned to the HAL afternoon tea since my first one in 2006. I think the Crow's Nest, or some other "lounge" type place is a better atmosphere than the noisy dining room sitting at a table for 6 or 8.  I miss the real clotted cream for scones and some nice classical or easy listening live music.  That's how I like my tea service! 🫖

 

I guess it isn't traditional, but I prefer a cart with a selection of the treats going to each table so we can select what and how many of each item we want.  

 

That's my wish list for afternoon tea!

 

~Nancy

 

Except for the cart, that's how it's done on Cunard. Tea is served in a lounge, on low tables. Waiters circulate with pots of tea, trays of sandwiches, trays of scones (with clotted cream!), trays of sweets. They usually have a harpist or pianist. One day on my last Cunard cruise, there was a guitarist who played a lot of Jobim, which was lovely.  

 

The source of "low" vs "high" tea is actually the table. Afternoon tea is served on a tea table (or coffee table or cocktail table, if you prefer those names). High tea, because it's a larger meal, is served on a dining room table, which is higher. So HAL is serving low tea on a high table. 

 

 

[Toofarfromthesea]

23 hours ago, Lakesregion said:

Those photos are rather misleading as they look terrific for one or two people. However, that offering is for an entire table of 8 people. Everyone gets one finger sandwich and one sweet unless you are fortunate to drag a passing waitstaff member over and ask for additional items. Very far from  any decent land based tea room and not even on the same planet as the Cunard aftenoon tea.

 

I was at a shared table of 6 and we had no trouble getting extra stuff.  It was no more difficult than getting extras of certain items when I had tea at the Ritz in London.

[BetsyS.]

Years ago on the Veendam, there were children at the Cupcake Tea. They were dressed up and very well behaved. They were excited to be there.😊