Holland America MS Veendam

Not since our honeymoon cruise aboard the MV Horizon (which is not even with Celebrity anymore), we've haven't been back aboard a "small" cruise ship.  Well, not until our latest foray out to the Maritimes aboard Holland America's MS Veendam.  We really didn't choose the ship per se, rather the itinerary was the real draw.  Besides, they can't really cruise down the St. Lawrence aboard a mega cruise ship anyways.  Listed with a gross tonnage of only 57,092, the MS Veendam is a little over 10,000 GT larger than the MV Horizon.  With that, we had reasonable expectations regarding the onboard amenities and the lack of modern appointments found on ships like RCCL's Allure of the Seas.

Due to the modest amount of passengers, the boarding process at the Black Falcon Terminal in Boston was fast and painless.  We were aboard the ship within 20 minutes of arriving at the terminal.  For the first time ever, we settled on an inside cabin since there was only one sea day on the itinerary.  Hence, very little time aboard the ship and subsequently in our room.  As you can see, the room was compact and especially so since we had the kiddies with us too.  The extra chair was in the way, so we had the cabin steward remove it.  The sofa converted to a bed and there was another bed that lowered from the ceiling.  There was a surprising amount of storage space and we didn't have an issue with hiding all of our clothes and knick knacks away.  The washroom was pretty standard being small and only consisting of a stand up shower.

For a small ship, there was actually a 3-story atrium complete with an interesting glass staircase/DNA-looking centerpiece.  It did look rather dated with the shiny brass accents though.  I guess we should've considered ourselves lucky since the MV Horizon had a hallway for a lobby.  Housed on the 7th floor, the front desk was somewhere we had to visit one too many times.  You see, our door lock malfunctioned due to the battery being low.  However, it took far too long (over 24 hours) and 3 trips to the front desk for it to be fixed.  Imagine returning from the gym sweaty and gross and not being able to access our stateroom?  We did get a shipboard credit for our inconvenience, but this should never happen aboard a cruise.  Overall, the service was good, but not outstanding.  Other than the front desk and our cabin steward (and assistant), the rest of our interactions with the staff were hit and miss.  I really didn't appreciate the one lady that asked me if it was "necessary to have access to my room".  Um...  WTH???

On the Lido deck, we found the one small pool and accompanying hot tubs.  Nothing particularly special about them, but again, they did their job.  With a retractable roof, it also meant we could use the pool area even if it was raining.  There was also a set of adult-only hot tubs at the back of the ship as well.  Also at the back of the ship was Club Hal (the kids program).  Although Holland America has never been known for their comprehensive kid's programs, this was sufficient with friendly and competent staff.  The actual club itself was small, yet still relative to the size of the ship and the clientele (where there are fewer kids).  As mentioned before, I had visit the gym facilities (yah shocking...) and it was more or less a serviceable one with some free weights as well as treadmills and a small area for aerobics.

Now to the good part, the main dining room was split into 2 levels with one being less formal than the other.  There was a mix of fixed seating (which we had) and walk-in traffic.  Food in general was pretty solid, especially for a cruise ship, albeit a smaller one.  Service was pretty good, yet hurried at times.  The other dining options included the Pinnacle Grill, Canaletto, Lido Cafe, Slice Pizza and Dive-In Burger Bar.  We tried them all and there will be dedicated posts in the next few days.  We ended up skipping the crowded and chaotic buffet for our welcome aboard lunch.  Since we were past Holland America cruisers, we were afforded the opportunity to dine in the Rotterdam main dining room for our welcome aboard lunch.  Not that we don’t like the buffet, this was more of a relaxing way to start our trip rather than fighting for seats and food up at the Lido Cafe.

The first thing I ate on the cruise was the Fresh Fruit with Peach Schnapps which was a fairly simple appetizer consisting of honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon and pineapple.  All of the fruit was indeed fresh while not really all that sweet.  I found the melon somewhat firm.  The best part was the marinated peach segments which were soft and flavourful with the obvious hit of schnapps.  Viv had the Buffalo Chicken Wings in a corn tortilla basket which were a bit dry while the skin wasn’t completely rendered.  These looked baked rather than fried.  They weren’t really all that spicy either.

My daughter went for the Cream of Broccoli with toasted pine nuts as her starter and it was quite good.  The consistency was thick, but not overly creamy.  There was a considerable amount of broccoli blended into the soup which also was exemplified in the taste.  We thought the soup was well-seasoned and balanced.  For her main, she had the best of the bunch in the Seafood Penne in a light tomato sauce.  The sauce was mild, but was still flavorful and tangy.  The penne was al dente while the prawn was nicely textured and seasoned.  The piece of salmon was a bit salty though.

For my main, I had the disappointing Pulled Pork Sandwich with coleslaw and yam fries.  The best part of the dish was the crispy fries and that’s not saying a lot.  I found the sandwich to be overwhelmed by the taste of raw onion.  It was in the coleslaw and the juices had seeped into the pulled pork.  Even the gratuitous amount of sweet and tangy BBQ sauce didn’t help things much.  I didn’t even like the bun as it was too dense and chewy.  Viv decided on the Blackened Mahi Mahi Tacos for her entree and it was decent.  Although small, the rolls featured tender fish that was lightly crispy.  Flavors were mild, but still there was some spice and tang.

For dessert, I tried the surgar-free Berry Bollen which were filled with yogurt wildberry mousse.  I found the choux pastry to be a bit dry, but still fairly soft (forgiveable due to the absence of sugar).  Inside, the yogurt was fluffy and not too sweet.  Something along the same lines was the Strawberry Shortcake filled with Chantilly cream, basil and fresh strawberry segments.  This was a refreshing and light dessert with actual shortcake (not sponge cake).  Hence, the texture and consistency was more dense and flaky.  It worked well with the soft and wet ingredients as it held up and also provided a textural contrast.

Lastly, we tried the Peanut Butter Silk Pie with graham cracker crust and chocolate sauce.  This tasted somewhat like a really big peanut butter cup except less sweet.  The peanut butter filling was indeed silky and smooth while the chocolate added only a mild amount sweetness.  We felt the desserts as a whole was pretty good, but the other items were definitely hit and miss.  On the other hand, it was only lunch and the first one at that.  There was much more food to come, including alternative dining.  From past experience and also based on this cruise, Holland America does serve up better food than most of the immediate competition.  In terms of service, we found it to be inconsistent on this cruise compared to the one on the Oosterdam.  Amenities were lacking due to the size of the ship, but it wasn't a big deal due to the busy itinerary.  I do believe this is a great way to get a taste of the Maritimes in one complete package.

The Good:
- Great itinerary except for Sydney, N.S.
- Generally decent food
- Easy embarkation and disemarkation

The Bad:
- Inconsistent service
- Ship is small and lacking in activities
- No wow factor, but you should know that going into it 

Winsor Dim Sum Cafe

After a late lunch at Neptune Oyster (or was it an early dinner?), we weren't exactly hungry until later that evening.  I wonder why we don't call it dunch or linner?  I digress.  Anyways, being late, we weren't in the mood for traveling far for food.  Since we had a steady diet of lobster rolls, clam chowder and burgers for the past few days, it was imperative we changed things up as well.  Being located next to Chinatown, it seemed like a good idea to go for some comfort food (because we are Chinese!) nearby.  How about Dim Sum for dinner at Winsor?  Yes, being from Vancouver, there was a good chance that we wouldn't be impressed, but we had reasonable expectations.

We were actually surprised by the selection considering we were having Dim Sum for dinner.  On the topic of comfort food, we got the Preserved Egg and Salted Pork Congee to begin.  I found the broth to be decently thick and cooked down while lightly salted.  However, there was barely any ingredients to be found.  I've never seen preserved egg sliced so thin in my life!  As for the pork, it was lean while tender at the same time.  Next up was the Xiao Long Bao which were serviceable with all things considered.  The dumpling skin was relatively thin except for the top which was not dense either.  Inside, there was a decent amount of soup which was mostly one-note being sweet.  The meat was pretty loose and lacking in texture.

Looking legit, yet ultimately being rather average, the Ha Gau (shrimp dumplings) featured thick dumpling skin that was doughy and slightly chewy.  I found the filling to be texturally okay with a meaty snap while being buttery.  However, the flavor was a bit too shrimpy for my tastes.  It was quite overwhelming.  As for the Siu Mai (pork & shrimp dumpling), the textures were a little off.  The chunks of pork were soft and missing the desired rebound texture.  There was also very little shrimp to be found.  However, flavours were okay though being balanced with the taste of shiitake.

For my offal fix, I ordered the Honeycomb Tripe sitting atop fried tofu.  This was a very modest portion sporting strips of bounce textured tripe that rode the fine line between chewy and soft.  There was a slight gaminess, but the ample Szechuan-type seasoning helped masked it.  Therefore, the dish ate on the spicier side of things.  Seemingly not fried enough, the plump Phoenix Talons (chicken feet) featured soft skin and tender cartilage and fat.  Other than that, I enjoyed the overall texture of the chicken feet as well as the balanced seasoning (could've used more garlic though).

We got the Steamed Black Bean Spareribs atop rice noodles because we knew the kiddies love rice noodles.  Yes, this was a hit with them as they dusted it off.  Not sure if the flavors actually penetrated the noodles, but they were soft while still having an elasticity.  I found the ribs to be tender with a nice rebound.  They were well-seasoned with noticeable garlic and black bean hits.  We decided to try the Fried Shrimp Bean Curd Skin Rolls in an attempt to see if my son would eat it.  Nope, there was too much cilantro for him and really, for me too.  The piece of celery inside was rather strange as it didn't seem to go.  As for the shrimp, there was nice bounce to it as well as being sweet.

Our last dish was the Shrimp Mousse Stuffed Eggplant which were served piping hot.  We found that the oil was not drained properly from the deep-fry and made the dish really greasy.  We were also not sure of what type of sauce was on the plate. The eggplant was nicely textured though being soft without disintegrating.  Like the bean curd skin rolls, the shrimp mousse was on point.  Overall, the Dim Sum at Winsor was serviceable with all things considered.  Would it ever be confused with great Dim Sum?  Of course not, but we already knew that going in.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Serviceable
- Fairly large selection

The Bad:
- Serviceable, but not great
- What service?

Neptune Oyster

So our first lobster roll in Boston was at Luke's and the bar was set pretty high already due to the quality and reasonable price.  We then went high end with our visit to Island Creek Oyster Bar and had a totally different version with a more dressed version and a denser bun.  However, the one roll that was in the back-of-my-mind was the infamous version from Neptune Oyster in the North End.  There was a big problem though - they don't take reservations and sometimes the wait can be hours long (also due to the small space).  We ended up waiting 2.5 hours for a table and in the meantime, finished the Freedom Trail.

Before we got to the mains and the lobster roll, we celebrated National Oyster Day with 1/2 dozen consisting of Thatch Island, Bee's River and Summerside.  These were shucked well except for one which had a few shell fragments.  All were really fresh, briny and creamy.  I thought the Bee's River had more of a mineral finish though.  For the 3rd time in Boston, we had a bowl of Wellfleet Clam Chowder, yet this one was made-to-order with live clams.  Hence, the flavour was really fresh and briny rather than plain salty.  Of course being fresh, the clams were chewier, but they were still buttery.  I found the broth to be more soupy than chowder-like.  I didn't mind this as it wasn't too heavy.

Okay, getting right down to it, we dug into the large Maine Lobster Roll featuring lobster stuffed into a soft, warm and sweet roll.  It was over-stuffed with large chunks of lobster which were springy and super sweet.  I have to say that the lobster meat was practically perfect with an appealing bounce texture and chewiness.  Seasoning was on point while the amount of butter was sinful, yet at the same time, super tasty.  Even the side of fries were good being crispy while still potatoey inside.  We also got the Neptune Burger prepared medium-rare.  The meat was tender and juicy while meaty at the same time.  The whole thing was flavorful with the abundance of melted aged cheddar, garlic mayo and crunch of the tangy relish.  To top it off, literally, were 3 fried oysters which provided even more moisture, crunch and a sweet brininess.

Lastly, we got the Roasted Icelandic Char with celery root puree, forest-harvested shiitake mushroom and olive oil.  For us, this was also perfectly-prepared where the center was still rare.  Hence, the fish remained buttery and tender.  It was beautifully seasoned where the natural sweetness of the fish was enhanced rather than masked.  Underneath, the buttery and aggressively-salted mushrooms were tender and super tasty. Okay, a 2.5 hour wait is pretty ludicrous and if I actually had to stand in line, I wouldn't even consider it.  But given the circumstances and the outstanding lobster roll, it was certainly worth it in this case.

The Good:
- Dat lobster roll...
- Expertly prepared fresh seafood
- Service was good for us

The Bad:
- So small and cramped, not comfy at all
- Dat wait