Your videos are convincing me to book a HAL cruise. 🤣 We usually cruise the first week of December so I’d better get moving. Everything you presented looked good! The menu had a nice variety and HAL always makes a nice presentation. Joanne’s reaction to the chocolate tart has got me craving chocolate so I’m off to scrounge through my cabinets to FIND SOME CHOCOLATE. 😂
*Loving* the blue annotation bubbles, David (I think your name is David. I can’t remember, sorry!) Longer wait times in the MDR don’t bother me a bit when the food is like this. What they have on offer looks very appealing to me. I’m so glad HAL isn’t going down the cheapskate rabbit hole that some of the other cruise lines are. Exploring new flavors in the MDR is part of the whole cruise experience. I mean, part of why you’re going on a cruise is to explore places you’ve never been to, right? So why shouldn’t the dining offerings be in the vein of exploration? Joanne’s expressions after she tried the veal croquet made me laugh. Her review of the chocolate tart made me laugh harder. She starts out liking it… then eats some more… likes it even more… then eats some more… then *LOVES* it! 😅 so funny. Absolutely loved how the trout dish looked. As with everything else, it was well-presented with the vegetable garnish. Very appealing! I couldn’t believe I saw a lobster roll offered for only $13!!! When I was in Boston a couple of years ago, you couldn’t touch a lobster roll for less than $30. That is very very good. The danish Apple pancake looked fabulous too. Of course, I loved the looks of that chocolate tart! My only critique of that would be that it doesn’t come with enough crème anglaise for me 😆. I would have to ask for extra on the side. The sweet cream offsets the bitterness of the chocolate, and makes for a much more luxurious flavor. Just my humble opinion 😊!! Boy, these cruise lines sure benefit from the vlogs their travel professionals are doing! These videos really bring us up close and personal with the food scene, and I *love it.* HAL is definitely more expensive than many of the other cruise lines, so I’ve found, so that means I’m having to save a little extra hard to do a cruise with them - BUT THAT IS NOT A COMPLAINT! I really think I would love the experience HAL offers. I’ve been checking out Viking , and even Regent Seven Seas as well. Of course, those are luxury cruise lines, and therefore come at a substantially greater cost than HAL, but for what they give you I think it’s worth it! Another great video, you guys! Happy cruising! *~Scott*
Thank you very much Scott! 😊 Yup it's David & Joann. Haha yeah I can attest as well that the Dutch veal croquette was probably the least tasty dish. And yeah that tart looked plain, but packed a serious chocolate punch. As far as prices go- we've found that HAL has some of the most competitive prices actually. Royal Caribbean prices are off the charts right now, and Carnival not much better. And definitely agree with you about HAL's value proposition vs the luxury lines. In fact we met a couple on this cruise who did Viking and Oceania before, and this was their first time on HAL. And they said that Oceania had the best food, but they thought HAL was a high quality experience considering the price. They were not impressed with Viking apparently. Happy cruising Scott and thanks again for another insightful comment!
@@TravelTouristVideos Aw! I misspelled Joann’s name! I’ll get it right one of these days! Oh yes, Royal’s prices seem unjustified, considering the product they deliver. I didn’t know HAL was a better deal, but then I don’t keep up on pricing. Royal, it seems, is really trying to embrace the “floating resort” idea, and their pricing is getting comparable to all-inclusive land resorts, but the product they deliver is much less desirable when you consider the overcrowding that happens on their ships. It’s very interesting to follow what’s happening in cruising these days. HAL offers the traditional cruise experience, which I find much more amenable to my tastes. Kinda like Love Boat from the 1970’s!
@@TVHouseHistorian As for pricing, on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, the new ships are very expensive and usually higher than HAL. However, some of the older and smaller ships like Liberty of the Seas and Millennium have been very reasonable price wise. In all fairness, we have the benefit of being able to cruise ANY week of the year and can choose "shoulder" seasons when rates are more affordable.
I thought that the veal croquette was very mediocre. It would have been good if the veal was just ground. Instead, it really tasted like Gerber's pureed veal and that is NOT a good thing.
Another great video. One thing that needs to be mentioned about the HAL breakfast and lunch is that they have a fixed menu for the entire cruise. However, they have great variety and the dishes are always well executed. By the way, have you ever tried their lobster roll?? if it is good, $13 is a great steal and might be worth ordering. We will be on the Eurodam in January 2024.
Thank you very much! 😊 We didn't try it, but $13 is certainly a great price for lobster roll nowadays. If you do try it on the Eurodam we'd love to hear how you liked it.
@@TravelTouristVideos Unfortunately, I think that we will be cancelling that cruise due to health reasons. We will get back to HAL before the end of the year.
@@TravelTouristVideos We made it on the Eurodam on the cruise as originally scheduled. We "took one for the team.". The $13 lobster roll was mediocre and certainly not worth it. It was the consistency of chicken salad and lacked any flavor. The $10 shrimp that a guy at the table looked alot better!! Pictures to follow ...
Happy to hear you guys made it! 💪 Thanks for sharing your experience with the lobster roll- we'll be sure to avoid that lol. Would love to check out the pics!
Yes that 1 hour timeframe seems to be the case for many other cruise lines nowadays as well. But you can go even 5 minutes before closing and they'd still serve you.
I love seeing glimpses of your son over the years and how much he has grown! He has gotten so tall. He should be shown more in future videos 😊
Thank you very much! 🙂 Yeah he's growing so tall now, and will be making an appearance in the new main dining room dinner video 😁
I love seeing fresh fish served with the skin on. All of the food looks delicious
Yes nice texture and held the moisture well. Thanks for the comment! 🙂
Cooking fish with skin makes it far easier to serve an eye appealing dish
Holland does a good job via their MDR
The food looked really good. Great info. Thanks and take care.
Thank you very much Karen- you too! 😊
Your videos are convincing me to book a HAL cruise. 🤣 We usually cruise the first week of December so I’d better get moving. Everything you presented looked good! The menu had a nice variety and HAL always makes a nice presentation. Joanne’s reaction to the chocolate tart has got me craving chocolate so I’m off to scrounge through my cabinets to FIND SOME CHOCOLATE. 😂
Thanks Sally! 😊 They had a nice lunch menu with quite a few tasty dishes- that was one excellent chocolate tart! 😋
The fish looked so fresh :) Taco slippage, been there done that LOL
Tried to get a perfect bite there but made it too heavy on one side 😁
That cheesecake is hilarious. Wow half a fresh strawberry.... lol.
*Loving* the blue annotation bubbles, David (I think your name is David. I can’t remember, sorry!)
Longer wait times in the MDR don’t bother me a bit when the food is like this. What they have on offer looks very appealing to me. I’m so glad HAL isn’t going down the cheapskate rabbit hole that some of the other cruise lines are. Exploring new flavors in the MDR is part of the whole cruise experience. I mean, part of why you’re going on a cruise is to explore places you’ve never been to, right? So why shouldn’t the dining offerings be in the vein of exploration?
Joanne’s expressions after she tried the veal croquet made me laugh. Her review of the chocolate tart made me laugh harder. She starts out liking it… then eats some more… likes it even more… then eats some more… then *LOVES* it! 😅 so funny.
Absolutely loved how the trout dish looked. As with everything else, it was well-presented with the vegetable garnish. Very appealing! I couldn’t believe I saw a lobster roll offered for only $13!!! When I was in Boston a couple of years ago, you couldn’t touch a lobster roll for less than $30. That is very very good. The danish Apple pancake looked fabulous too. Of course, I loved the looks of that chocolate tart! My only critique of that would be that it doesn’t come with enough crème anglaise for me 😆. I would have to ask for extra on the side. The sweet cream offsets the bitterness of the chocolate, and makes for a much more luxurious flavor. Just my humble opinion 😊!!
Boy, these cruise lines sure benefit from the vlogs their travel professionals are doing! These videos really bring us up close and personal with the food scene, and I *love it.* HAL is definitely more expensive than many of the other cruise lines, so I’ve found, so that means I’m having to save a little extra hard to do a cruise with them - BUT THAT IS NOT A COMPLAINT! I really think I would love the experience HAL offers. I’ve been checking out Viking , and even Regent Seven Seas as well. Of course, those are luxury cruise lines, and therefore come at a substantially greater cost than HAL, but for what they give you I think it’s worth it! Another great video, you guys! Happy cruising!
*~Scott*
Thank you very much Scott! 😊 Yup it's David & Joann. Haha yeah I can attest as well that the Dutch veal croquette was probably the least tasty dish. And yeah that tart looked plain, but packed a serious chocolate punch. As far as prices go- we've found that HAL has some of the most competitive prices actually. Royal Caribbean prices are off the charts right now, and Carnival not much better. And definitely agree with you about HAL's value proposition vs the luxury lines. In fact we met a couple on this cruise who did Viking and Oceania before, and this was their first time on HAL. And they said that Oceania had the best food, but they thought HAL was a high quality experience considering the price. They were not impressed with Viking apparently. Happy cruising Scott and thanks again for another insightful comment!
@@TravelTouristVideos Aw! I misspelled Joann’s name! I’ll get it right one of these days!
Oh yes, Royal’s prices seem unjustified, considering the product they deliver. I didn’t know HAL was a better deal, but then I don’t keep up on pricing. Royal, it seems, is really trying to embrace the “floating resort” idea, and their pricing is getting comparable to all-inclusive land resorts, but the product they deliver is much less desirable when you consider the overcrowding that happens on their ships. It’s very interesting to follow what’s happening in cruising these days. HAL offers the traditional cruise experience, which I find much more amenable to my tastes. Kinda like Love Boat from the 1970’s!
That's a fair assessment. The original love boat would be Princess of course, though it does seem HAL is taking over that vibe more nowadays.
@@TVHouseHistorian As for pricing, on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, the new ships are very expensive and usually higher than HAL. However, some of the older and smaller ships like Liberty of the Seas and Millennium have been very reasonable price wise. In all fairness, we have the benefit of being able to cruise ANY week of the year and can choose "shoulder" seasons when rates are more affordable.
I thought that the veal croquette was very mediocre. It would have been good if the veal was just ground. Instead, it really tasted like Gerber's pureed veal and that is NOT a good thing.
Another great video. One thing that needs to be mentioned about the HAL breakfast and lunch is that they have a fixed menu for the entire cruise. However, they have great variety and the dishes are always well executed. By the way, have you ever tried their lobster roll?? if it is good, $13 is a great steal and might be worth ordering.
We will be on the Eurodam in January 2024.
Thank you very much! 😊 We didn't try it, but $13 is certainly a great price for lobster roll nowadays. If you do try it on the Eurodam we'd love to hear how you liked it.
@@TravelTouristVideos Unfortunately, I think that we will be cancelling that cruise due to health reasons. We will get back to HAL before the end of the year.
@@jlawrence0181 Sorry to hear that! We hope you are doing well and taking care of yourselves, and be ready to cruise by the end of the year!
@@TravelTouristVideos We made it on the Eurodam on the cruise as originally scheduled. We "took one for the team.". The $13 lobster roll was mediocre and certainly not worth it. It was the consistency of chicken salad and lacked any flavor. The $10 shrimp that a guy at the table looked alot better!! Pictures to follow ...
Happy to hear you guys made it! 💪 Thanks for sharing your experience with the lobster roll- we'll be sure to avoid that lol. Would love to check out the pics!
Looks great, but small servings
You can order double or 2 different entrees no prob
Did you do afternoon tea? Enjoyed 😉 the video
We sure did- stay tuned for a video on that 🙂
dutch pancake and trout
Nice choices! 😋
Holland America does a good job via their MDR
They sure do!
3 more days!
Super-excited for you Angela!!
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Those tacos look tough to eat.
Looks boring.
🛳🛳🛳 Only "one" hour for serving time 🛳🛳🛳
Yes that 1 hour timeframe seems to be the case for many other cruise lines nowadays as well. But you can go even 5 minutes before closing and they'd still serve you.