Culinary Operations Manager Florin was the Coffee Chat guest this morning. We learned that the Grand World Voyage is the only cruise where the ship plans the menus instead of the staff in Seattle. Every August, the Amsterdam team gets together and plans out the menus for the entire World Cruise, looking at themes, gala nights, ports etc. Once they have the plan laid out, they convert it to specific quantities of food and send the requirements to Seattle in two-week segments. Seattle will develop contracts for the required food and arrange to have it shipped to the appropriate port as required. Very little food is bought locally due to strict requirements for quality and food safety which require rigorous vendor qualifications that usually can’t be accomplished during a short port visit.
Fun Fact – the ship uses 25,000 eggs every two weeks.
Florin passed on some good news and announced he was being promoted to Hotel Director and would be heading over to the Maasdam after the World Cruise.
Today was another Gala night. Our table host was Martin, the ship’s second engineer. Las Vegas was the theme with the tables decked out in appropriate Vegas style.
Pete Neighbour, the Jazz Clarinetist, joined the Ocean Trio in the Ocean Bar at 8:45 for a jam session. This was only publicized thru a small line in the When and Where – so if you enjoy Jazz, and have the good fortune to have Pete Neighbour perform on your ship, keep a lookout for this special performance.
Normally Cruise Director Hamish, kicks off the evening’s entertainment, but tonight Mark, the event manager, appeared on stage wearing a Lemur costume and advised us that Hamish was unavailable since he was “tied up”. Just then, Hamish rolled onstage, bound and gagged and sitting in an wheeled office chair. Here is a video of this opening.
The Holland America Singers and Dancers were in the Queen’s Lounge this evening performing “Astoria” which is set in “Astoria, a middle-class neighborhood in the northwestern corner of the New York City borough of Queens. A story line set in a Student Music Academy, where love, music and good times unfold”. This show is different than most since it has somewhat of a story line, although it is hard to follow. Although the HAL Orchestra did not perform live, the show used taped music, several members of the HAL Orchestra had small roles, playing musician roles, as part of the cast.
