Nieuw Amsterdam: Sea Day 1

I woke up at 6 am to find my husband getting ready to leave the cabin. Since I was awake, he brought back coffee in our travel mugs which we enjoyed on the balcony before heading to the lido for breakfast.

Morning at Sea

We got omelettes which are made where the salad bar is later in the day. I had bacon, ham, avocado and cheese suppleented with a couple of sausage links.

Steve had his favorite ham and cheese with waffles.

I loved the fresh flowers at every table.

After comparing schedules, we decided to meet in the cabin at 11:30 am to go to the. Mariner’s lunch.

I had a book to read and set out for the future cruise consultant desk at 9 am where I bought future cruise certificates for us.

Then I went to the photo gallery to get their help finding our embarkation photo. Apparently, its by time and number of people in the group and they found it easily.

I bought the all candid shots package (prints). Weirdly, if you buy digital they get it to you on a CD but charge an extra $60 for a USB!

After doing these business necessities I found a lounger outside on the promenade deck and finished my book.

I went to America’s test kitchen presentation on breakfast.

Within 10 minutes I learned a few tips:

cold eggs are easier to separate
move the whites into a separate container after separating each one so if you do break the yolk you don’t contaminate all of them
keep a little skin on the shallot to use as a handle when cutting

I had to leave before it ended to meet Steve for lunch but here are the recipe cards.

Afternoon at Sea

Back in the cabin I changed and we went to the main dining room where we were seated with a lovely couple who retired to Florida. We had complimentary champagne that was quite good for the toast (and it was even refilled) and ordered from the special menu.

The seafood salad was small but tasty.

I selected the Caribbean pepper beef tenderloin entree which was also a smaller serving.

Steve had the fish which was a larger volume. Dessert was coconut cream pie.

We were given tiles which I was happy to add to my collection.

After a nap, we went our separate ways and I got a bunless burger to eat as lunch just wasn’t enough. Hate to say it but the Dive-in burgers are not as good as Guy’s on Carnival. While eating I saw YS and SF who were grabbing something to eat after finishing their beer tasting.

Afterwards Steve went to afternoon tea and I went to checkout the Oprah book club selection, An American Marriage, at guest services. I started reading it before we went to happy hour at 4 pm where I got a couple of vodka sodas. The appetizers were interesting.

The glass cups held a fish salad, then balls were BBQ pork. And the spoon held goat cheese with some caviar.

Evening at Sea

After finishing drinks, we both got dressed for the gala dinner. The “kids” wanted to only go to one gala night and picked Thanksgiving.

It was a nice menu.

We both started with shrimp cocktail which was pretty good.

I then had the sun choke soup. Steve just had one appetizer because he ordered double of the surf and turf.

One filet mignon was very thin which was a complaint of mine four years ago. He said it was tender but not super flavorful.

I ordered the rack of veal with a lobster tail.

The veal was okay but the lobster was very good.

He got sugar free tiramisu for dessert and I had flourless chocolate cake.

We decided to get books and iPads to keep us busy and settled into the ocean bar for 30 minutes before heading to the showroom. This time we tried the upper level and found first row seats. Everyone was offered champagne as they entered (not as good as we had at lunch) for a champagne toast with the captain at 7:45 pm.

He said there were 2,150 guests onboard. We never encounter much of a line anywhere. The show was “One World” and although the dancers and singers were talented the set was very basic and I couldn’t figure out the theme.

We skipped hitting any other lounges and returned to our cabin to find this guy.