Food, Glorious Food!

Half of the fun when vacationing is the new and different food we eat.

When I decided to separate this review into two sections (Eating; and Everything Else), I intended to take pictures of each menu to post in a gallery. But it’s very hard with the lighting in the various restaurants to get a clear and legible photo of the menus. I’ll post a few menu photos, but Prof. Cruise already posted the 2022 Nieuw Statendam menus on her site, so please jump over and see what she has posted.

Here’s a link to a thorough report published on the Cruise Critic website describing all the dining venues on Nieuw Statendam.
I found a similar review on the website, “The Luxury Cruise Review.” Here’s that link.

Glossary: HAL = Holland America Line; M&M = our travel companions, neighbors and friends Mike and Marilyn.

Thursday, Jan. 5, Crowne Plaza, Cleveland Airport

For our first meal of January vacation, I ordered Fried Green Tomatoes as an appetizer – delicious! I think they were breaded with corn meal. The slices were thin, and this may be the secret to a really good version of this southern treat. For my entree, I ordered the Mushroom and Onion Flatbread. “Sautéed mushrooms and onions on top herbed Boursin and mozzarella.” I enjoyed this, but I don’t like spicy food, and something in this dish left an aftertaste that I didn’t want to carry with me into my sleep, so I had to order some … Chocolate Ice Cream, with a little chocolate sauce drizzled on the top. I always skip the whipped cream, unless it’s house-whipped. The waitress, Sandy, provided four spoons, and we all had a taste.

Friday, Jan, 6, CLE→FLL; Renaissance Fort Lauderdale West Hotel

Arrived at CLE at 5:15 a.m. Easy check-in and TSA Pre-Chek passage, considering the non-Pre-Chek lines scrolled through the ticketing area.

Bruegger’s Bagels in the food court. Jas and I had been upgraded to First Class on our United flight, and had chosen our meals online two days in advance. But it was only 6:00 a.m., and our breakfast wouldn’t be served for at least two hours. I ordered a cinnamon raisin bagel,with a cream cheese spread and a cup of tea. This was just the right amount of food to tide me over to breakfast aloft.
United has recovered quite nicely from the plastic knives era following 9/11, and from the pandemic. My breakfast was cheese blintzes with blueberry topping, along with sides of a fruit compote, a small croissant with butter and strawberry jam, and Chobani strawberry yogurt. The blintzes were delicious! There was real metal silverware and a beautiful beige textured cloth napkin. (Darn, I should have photographed that napkin!) I think the fabric was cotton, but I don’t know how they got that texture into it. I’ll be looking for some of that fabric to be making similar napkins for my home dining table. Jas’s breakfast was a frittata with sausage slices and a little bit of potatoes.
I knew how much fabulous food I’d be eating for the next seven days, so ordered the arugula salad with candied walnuts and goat cheese. The manager came in after our orders were taken, and was able to pour from the bar, so I enjoy a glass of Kendall Jackson Reserve Chardonnay. Mike had a very tall club sandwich, which came with delicious sweet potato tots. I’ll be searching our local grocery stores to see if I can find that item in the frozen food section—we all loved them.
The four of us tried to find a restaurant outside the hotel for dinner, using every available tool on our phones, along with a restaurant list Jas procured from the front desk. Alas. Dinner at the hotel again—But a good dinner. Jas and Mike and I had all decided we wanted the crab cake appetizer, but they were out. Jas got the shrimp cocktail appetizer and the truffle mac and cheese entree. I ordered a 6 oz. filet, cooked medium so Jas would share it with me, and potatoes at gratin. Jas had noticed the Key Lime pie on the menu at lunch, and deferred that choice to dinner. The server brought four forks. Mike declined, but Jas, Marilyn, and I savored every bite of that pie.

Saturday, Jan. 7, Coach Transfer from Hotel to Port Everglades Holland America Terminal; Embarkation on Nieuw Statendam

The Renaissance restaurant does not serve breakfast as they did pre-pandemic. They set up a Starbucks in the bar area of the restaurant. … Okay, that was what we were told from check-in until we walked into the restaurant this morning, expecting to see the standard Starbucks pastry items I love. But then we learned there was a $22.95 breakfast buffet. Or Starbucks coffee items. It was a decent buffet—scrambled eggs, bacon and/or sausage; breakfast fried potatoes without all the “homefry” accoutrements that I hate (green peppers, red peppers, onion). There was also oatmeal that looked great; pancakes; small muffins and several pastries; cereals; milk and o.j.; coffee; and a very nice assortment of cut fruits, bananas, and some cheese and meat if that’s your breakfast thing. There was not, however, plain ol’ black tea. [Kicking self for not bringing along about a dozen Lipton tea bags.] The sweet young waitress who also served us yesterday for lunch said she would get me a bottle of prepared tea from the shop by the front desk. I frequently have iced tea with my breakfast, but this wasn’t fresh-brewed tea. Oh, well. I have seven days of great tea ahead of me, whenever I want it. Life is good!
Once onboard, about 2:00, the best lunch option was the Lido Market. This is the buffet restaurant one always hears about when reading about cruises. Of course things are different after the onset of Covid-19. There’s much less reaching for things and many more plexiglass sneeze-protectors. And the place was packed—and loud. A lot of hungry cruisers, having just endured the hustle and bustle of boarding, were hungry. I immediately ordered my first margarita of the cruise, and held the table while my companions browsed the line. When it was my turn, I selected a salad from the Italian section, and after finishing that, went back for a small bowl of rigatoni and a delicious multigrain dinner roll. Perfect. I love that HAL restaurants serve small portions. It allows me to taste the food that catches my fancy and not feel stuffed afterwards. I finished with a small portion of chocolate silk pie, and we were done until dinner.
About a month ago we had booked a table in the Pinnacle Grill for sailaway night dinner after reading on one of the cruise discussion boards that the upscale restaurant is usually not crowded the first night. Perfect! The restaurant is unusually (to us) dark (meaning not much light in the room, not meaning the theatre definition of “closed”), but we were given one of the tables with the most light above it. We could read our menus without turning on our phone cameras. And it was by the window. From my banquette seat, I could see the full moon overhead and the fabulous reflection from the moon across the ocean outside our window. Memorable! After taking our drink orders (Grgrich Chardonnay for me), the server, Reza, brought a bowl of delicious hard bread sticks with, maybe, olives in them. Darn, why didn’t I take a picture?! They came with a garlic butter spread and a cheese spread with red pepper. For my appetizer I ordered the fried stuffed mushrooms. Jas had the lobster bisque, and M&M both had the crab cakes. My entree was chicken, with the side of creamed spinach. The chicken was moist and lovely. Jas got the lamb chop with a side of mushrooms. M&M both ordered their steaks with the side of french fries, of which Jas and I each snuck a few. These skinny, fried-to-perfection fries are absolutely memorable. I enjoyed the key lime pie, and the others each enjoyed the perfect crème brûlée. It amazes me that the kitchen can roll out that many perfectly torched desserts. After a short walk to listen to some music, our first day on board was complete.

Sunday, Jan. 8, Nieuw Statendam, at Sea, Sailing from Port Everglades east of the Bahamas toward The Turks and Caicos Islands

Breakfast in the Club Orange Dining Room. Belonging to “Club Orange” on the Holland America ships gives one some opportunities that are not available without this status. Club Orange status is available to long-time cruisers with a certain number of Mariner stars. Jas and I are not at that level yet, but because we booked a Neptune suite for this cruise, we are awarded membership for the duration of this voyage. Pinnacle-class vessels have a special Club Orange dining room, available only to those members. Like any post-pandemic restaurant, it seemed to be understaffed and having a few problems delivering the classic HAL exquisite service, but I definitely enjoyed my breakfast, once it arrived. I ordered Swedish Pancakes and Jas had classic Eggs Benedict. It was a lovely way to begin our first full day on board.
After breakfast, I still had a hankering for a little something, so I stopped at the Dutch Café for a mocha and a cinnamon danish. I like the menu on the wall at the Dutch Café and think I’ll be enjoying a lunch here one afternoon this week.
Neither Jas nor myself was interested in sitting down to a lunch service, so around 1:30 we went into the Neptune Lounge, available only to residents of Neptune and Pinnacle suites (the largest accommodations). There were six different small sandwiches, along with an assortment of dips and chips and veggies, and a variety of fruits. Oh, and a small assortment of bite-sized desserts. One of the things I love the most about springing for a Neptune suite is this Concierge Lounge. There are an assortment of beverages and foods available from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. There is an area with comfortable sofas and chairs where one can read or watch television. I chose a tomato and Brie sandwich, a ham and lettuce sandwich, some veggies and dressing, and a small sandwich cookie, filled with strawberry jam. Just the perfect amount of food.
Tonight was a “dressy” night—formerly known on many ships as gala night. On the HAL ships, it’s nothing like the Captain’s dinner nights of two or three decades ago, but is just a lovely evening when each diner’s attire is a step up from the usual. There were lots of sequins around the room. Jas and I both chose the Creamed Artichoke and Heritage Carrot Soup. Delicious! I’ll be looking for an online recipe to duplicate this wonderful item. Then we both ordered the Baked Ricotta Stuffed Shells, which were light and tasty. I’ve said in every travelogue I’ve written about HAL cruises that I love the portion sizes that come out of their kitchens. I never feel stuffed when I leave the table. For dessert Jas chose the Black Forest Cake, and I got the Flourless Chocolate Cake, which is a staple on HAL menus and has been fabulous every time I’ve eaten it. I didn’t sample his, as I don’t care for cherries, but he said it was excellent.

Monday, Jan. 9, Grand Turk, 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

On the previous ship (Zaandam, an R-class ship), we enjoyed breakfast two mornings in the Pinnacle Grill. I wanted to introduce M&M to that wonderful experience. Alas, on this ship, because of the existence of the Club Orange dining room, the Pinnacle Grill does not serve breakfast. So rather than go back to the Club Orange dining room for breakfast, we went to the main dining room for breakfast, where we were seated at a table for four, aft. We were one large table away from the tall windows giving us great light and a view off the back of the ship. Nice! Mike selected the Classic Eggs Benedict; Marilyn selected Dungeness Eggs Benedict; and I splurged on the Lobster Eggs Benedict. Jas chose the Buckwheat Pancake Stack. We were surprised at how long it was taking for our our orders to be delivered to the table. I joked to Jas that maybe they had to catch my lobster. About ten minutes later the server came to the table and said something in his thick Indonesian accent about lobster and pointed down. (The sea—literally someone going down to pull up a lobster trap? The storage room in the “basement” of the ship?) I was trying so hard to understand him that it didn’t occur to me until he left the table to ask him to bring my partners’ orders and I would wait for mine. Another five minutes or so and all our orders were delivered. I won’t make that mistake again. Just order off the main menu, not the Indulge section.
We weren’t ready for lunch until around 2:00. So we decided to just have a light lunch. We went to the Neptune Lounge on the Deck 7 and had little three- or four-bite sandwiches, fruit and veggies, and a couple of cookies each. Perfect for this day.
After having our lunch, I asked one of the concierges if she could get us a table for four in the Main Dining Room between 6:00 and 7:00. Well, every maître d’ on that ship must be either awed by or scared to death of our concierges, Lorraine and Louisa. We were told to arrive between 6:00 and 7:00 and ask for Marko. Well, Marko was the maître d’, a very large man who appeared to be in his mid-40s. He bent over backward all night to make sure we were happy with our table, happy with our meal, happy with life in general. I felt like a princess!

Tuesday, Jan. 10. San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Breakfast in Club Orange. After our Sunday breakfast experience in Club Orange, I had spoken to our concierge about our disappointment with the service at the Club Orange restaurant. While we were eating our dinner in the Main Dining Room on Sunday evening, the Club Orange maître d’ came to our table to apologize for the poor service we experienced and ask us to give them another chance at showing us the standard excellent service at Club Orange. So this morning we headed back to dine with them again. And it was excellent. Our waiter was Eko, and he was very attentive. Jas and I both had the All-American Breakfast—over easy and sausage for Jas; scrambled and bacon for myself. It was a great way to start the day.
At lunchtime, we only had a short time to eat before getting in line for our coach tour of San Jose. We went to the Dive In restaurant at the Lido Pool. They serve burgers, hot dogs, and the best fries ever! At the pick-up window, that have a warmer with just-prepared standard burger and standard dog with tiny fried onions on top. Grab and go! We were short on time, as we needed to leave the ship around 1:30 for an excursion around San Juan. So Jas grabbed a dog and fries, I grabbed a burger and fries (Hurray—no onions, no nasty pickles. Happy me!), and we asked one of the bar servers to bring us each a margarita. Excellent food and drink, and we were able to run back to our suite and grab our essentials for the three-hour tour. (By coach, not boat. Thank you, Professor.)
Puerto Rican afternoon pick-me-up: Ben & Jerry’s by La Ventana al Mar park along the ocean in the Condado neighborhood.
Dinner in Club Orange. Starters of Roasted Zucchini Bisque for me and a Crab Cake for the other three. Our entrees were Roasted Chicken with Gnocchi for me;Baked Rigatoni with Italian Sausage for Jas; and 15 oz. Boneless Ribeyes for M&M. The Ricotta Raspberry Tarts that M&M and I chose were fabulous. Jas’s Chocolate Puff Pastry Craquelin with pastry cream and praline looked beyond wonderful.

Wednesday, Jan. 11. Charlotte Amelie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

We decided on breakfast at the Lido Market. I just didn’t want to sit down for “waitress service” at a white tablecloth venue. I wanted to wander around and see what appealed to me. Turns out an omelette with tomatoes and cheese, with sides of bacon and a potato cake, appealed to me. Oh, and a pecan sweet roll, fresh out of the oven. No pictures!
Walking around downtown Charlotte Amelie, Jas and I decided to have lunch at Greengo’s. Cute play on words. I had a taco salad, apologizing when I asked the server to hold the onions, peppers, and beans (that had lots of hot stuff in them), accompanied by a mediocre glass of iced tea. Really, how can one screw up a simple glass of unsweetened tea? The salad was delicious, especially the lack of migraine trigger threats. Jas had three tacos, accompanied by a margarita. Afterward I walked into a chocolate shop across the alley and got a 1″ cube of chocolate and walnut fudge for $4.00. Oh well, it was just the right finish to my meal.
Dinner in the main dining room. Jas started with the Borlotti Bean and Pasta Soup. I snuck a taste and it was fabulous—I’ll be searching the internet for a recipe. I ordered the Arugula and Pumpkin Salad, which was just what I needed: something light. For our entrees, Jas got the Caribbean Curried Lamb, which he enjoyed very much. I got the Caribbean ‘Jerk’ Chicken Breast, which I also enjoyed. For deserts, Marilyn was happy to have a dish of Neopolitan ice cream. We all admitted it had been many years since we had seen this on any menu anywhere. I loved the Chocolate Caramel Tart, and Mike got the Almond Fruit Cake, which is not your normal Christmas fruitcake. It was a lovely meal for the night before we start packing up to go home.

Thursday, Jan. 12. At sea, sailing from Charlotte Amalie to Half Moon Cay.

[Things I learned on this cruise: “Cay” is pronounced as “Key.”] We decided on Thursday night that we wanted to take it a bit easy in the morning, as Jas had a 9:30 a.m. appointment for a massage in the spa. We took advantage of the time change at 2:00 a.m. from Atlantic Standard Time back to Eastern Standard Time, and thought we’d sleep late. Something was funky with my phone, and it didn’t change the time. So when I woke, I thought it was about 4:45 a.m., and as it was only 15 minutes before my normal waking time of 5:00 a.m., I thought I’d just get up and check my mail and Facebook and then start working on this page again. Hmmm. It was not 4:45. It was 3:45. But of course I didn’t figure that out for about an hour, by which time I was fully wide awake with no chance of going back to sleep.
We had ordered room service for breakfast, to arrive at 8:15. I was starving by 6:15! When the Neptune Lounge opened, I went for a cup of tea and something to tide me over until breakfast arrived. I had ordered the bread pudding, which was delicious but a very large portion. And along with that, I had ordered a smoothie. Those two items together were way too much breakfast for me. The order was, however, delivered right on time; the hot things were hot and the cold things were cold. That equals success in my book.
I think on Thursday we ate at the Lido Market. Mike and Marilyn spent the day up in the cabana they had reserved for the week in the Retreat on the top deck, so we ate alone. The beauty of eating at the Lido is there is so much to choose from, and every dish is prepared with care and quality. Fresh breads, a wide variety of salads, heavy meal/light meal; whatever you want can be found there.
On some of the Holland America ships, tea is served every afternoon. Or maybe that’s in the olden days. On the Nieuw Statendam, tea was served on our second At Sea day, at 3:00 p.m. on the upper level of the Main Dining Room. The turnout was amazing to me. I Deck 3 dining room was over half full, so maybe 200-250 tea drinkers in the house.

[I read in the second link at the top of this page that the Main Dining Room on the three Pinnacle-class ships can serve 1,000 people at each sitting, so a total of 2,000. The Deck 3 dining room, which is used for those diners who choose to dine at the same time (5:45 p.m. or 8:00 p.m.) and at the same table every night, thus forming a relationship with their waiter, assistant waiter, and wine steward. This is a smaller dining room than the Deck 2 dining room, where there is “open dining.” You come when you want and just walk in and be seated, or you make a reservation for the time you prefer.]

For tea, the servers bring to each table a three-tier serving stands that hold lovely small porcelain plates bearing savory or sweet treats. The bottom plate had three finger sandwiches; the middle had a couple of puff pastries with a soft cheese or jam; the top was three delightful sweet pastries. The servers circulate with lovely silver pitchers of black tea. If you prefer a different type of tea, or decaf, there is a wooden box of teas, from which you can choose, upon request, and the server will bring you a small pot of hot water.

Marilyn had wanted to join me, but had not been feeling well, so missed this elegant tea experience we had been looking forward to sharing. I took the extra pastries from my table back to the room, in case she was up to sampling them.
When we got to the Main Dining Room for dinner at 6:15, I was hardly hungry after the 3:00 pastries and tea. My dinner selections were based on that fact. I started with a most delicious Sunchoke Soup, with chipotle powder, toasted pumpkin seeds, and chive oil. All the soups on board Holland America ships are brought to the table with the solids in the white soup bowl (in this case, the chipotle powder, the pumpkin seeds, and the chive oil) and the broth in a silver serving pot. This is another soup I’d like to find the recipe for. Jas had the shrimp cocktail and said it was predictably great. Mike ordered the escargot and enjoyed it. I ordered the Pan Seared Arctic Char for my entree. I’m always trying to get more fish into my diet (aren’t we all?), but never really know whether I’ll enjoy the meal or not. I thought this was delicious! Jas enjoyed the Gnocchi Bolognese. Marilyn ordered the Truffled Mushroom Risotto, and Mike had the “Port to Table” special, the Tangerine Glazed Duck Breast. For dessert, I predictably chose the Warm Chocolate Lava Cake, which was to die for. Jas ordered the Dulce de Leche and Coconut Tart, which he enjoyed. This was “dressy night,” which used to be called “gala night.” It’s always fun to people-watch during a dressy night.

Friday, Jan. 13. Half Moon Cay, Bahamas, 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

As we were going out to Holland America’s private island for several hours, we intended to order room service for breakfast. But we forgot to hang the order on the doorknob before going to bed the night before, so we had to go “out” for breakfast. We went to Club Orange and were able to chat a little with our favorite staff members there on this, the last full day on board. I had steel cut oats with walnuts, banana, and brown sugar; Jas had a bagel and lox, along with fruit.
We had expected we might eat the barbecue lunch being prepared on the island, but two ships were in port, anchored off the island, and there were a whole bunch of (2,000? 3,000?) people sharing that island. There was no way we were going to stand in the long line for lunch. And then the sky started spitting rain, so we grabbed our belongings and headed for the tenders to take us back to our ship, where we enjoyed another lunch at the Lido Market.
Jas and I had enjoyed our dinner at the Canoletto Italian restaurant on the last cruise, so decided to have our last night dinner there. (M&M went up to Deck 10 to have an Asian dinner at Tamarind.) We both started with the Minestrone Soup. It was absolutely delicious. I must research borlotti beans and look for a good minestrone recipe! The menu states “Our menu is best enjoyed when shared.” I took them at their word, and suggested to Jas that we share one of the large plates, so we chose the Braised Beef Short Rib Gnocchi. When taking our order, the server was surprised we weren’t ordering two. She didn’t think one would be enough for both of us. But it was almost too much. The meat was fabulous, “falling off the bone,” even it was served boneless. Every aspect of this dish was delicious. I would definitely order this again. For dessert, Jas ordered the Affogato and, of course, I got the Chocolate Hazelnut Tart. What a great way to finish this memorable cruise.

Saturday, Jan. 14. Fort Lauderdale, heading home

Room service for breakfast to save time, as we were expecting to disembark at 7:30. We both ordered the Continental Breakfast and savored every bite.
At FLL with an hour to kill. We stopped at Rocco’s Tacos and Tequila Bar, and were joyously served by Maria. I had Avocado Toast; M&M shared a breakfast burrito. It hit the spot so we wouldn’t have to pay for food on the plane. (No upgrade to First Class for this leg of the trip.)
We were hungry as we left the airport and knew the fridge would be empty, so we decided to drop by El Hefe in Girard for supper. We obviously hadn’t had enough Mexican food at the airport. It was happy hour at El Hefe, so we each got two $2 ground beef tacos, and a margarita. That meal would tide us over until we fell asleep at 8:30!