Cruise Review Volendam Nov 13-23 Part V final

[cigarman]

Volendam Review Nov. 13-23, 2006

Part V

Tonight at dinner we were surprised with what is called the "Signature Master Chef’s Dinner". Upon entering the dining room we saw paper chef hats at all the place settings with the evenings menu tucked inside. The menu is in a unique design of Cork screw, rolling pin, cleaver and wooden spoon. The entire kitchen and dining room came dancing into the dining room waving flags and it was a great show. Both upper and lower dining rooms were seated before this show started, and dinner was a little later then we were getting used to. Food items were Mushroom mousse with asparagus, very good. A salad also good. Four different and unique "starters" I had the Salmon which was excellent. Six varied entrees of which I had the Tenderloin of Beef and the horseradish mashed potato was just to my liking. Here is a picture of the dessert.

 

All in all very nice and the show was good as well.

Me cigar, DW casino, she is doing pretty good so far and having a blast. We won’t get rich but that was not the point.

Someone else noted and I will confirm here that the casino had two nights of no smoking which for DW was not a problem as she just hopped across to the sports bar for a smoke. Is this is a wave of the future, I do not know but the casino was a little less crowded on these two nights.

St. Thomas is a spot we have been to before so we are just going to grab a cab and head to Meagan’s bay for the day.

Please make sure that you know the cab fare before you get into the cab. It should be $4.00 per person to the bay and $2.00 to the shopping area. If you are strong you can walk into town but I would not recommend this as there is construction and it really is a long walk in the afternoon heat. There is a shopping area at the end of the pier which is much closer.

The last formal night was upon us and I have to say that HAL really knows how to dress up a dining room.

All the chairs are covered in white linen and the tables have been set with a very formal linen cover and special china. The menu for this night is printed on white parchment with the not popular "Farewell Dinner" printed across the top.

Tonight I finally get to have Escargots Bourguignon with a very nicely done Caribbean Seafood Bouillabaisse. This wonderful soup was beyond great. Many wonderful flavors passed over my taste buds and I enjoyed every spoonful. Of course with the option of surf and turf there was no problem picking out dinner tonight.

This was a great dinner and when the staff came out for a final bow, I grabbed the hand of the head chef to offer my own personal "job well done". The food with few exceptions has been very good during this cruise.

Upon arrival at HMC the air temperature was only 68.5 and the wind was blowing at 28 MPH. Two tenders were making there way to the ship and then turned around. At 8:05 AM the Captain made the announcement we would not be staying at HMC and would proceed back to Ft. Lauderdale. He offered a refund of the taxes which was about $13.00 per cabin.

We were given the luggage tags, we had green 4. The disembarkation went smoothly enough with many unhappy faces seen, as this 10 day cruise came to an end.

We had a great time and enjoyed meeting the CC group on day two. We will now sit back and reflect and ponder our next cruise on HAL. Maybe Alaska next spring. We will see.

Thank you for reading my very long report. If you can not see the photos please check your settings or ask in the question section. I know some of you can see them and some can’t.

Roy (cigarman) and Debbie (debmkay)

[Desdemona01]

thanks for your review! Very interesting and well thought out

[Spot]

Thanks Roy & Debbie for a great review and a snapshot of what we are going to experience beginning Sunday! I can hardly wait!!

 

I'm still unable to see the photos you have included but that's okay with me, I wanted more of what you had to say about your cruise, the ship and it's crew.