Traveling with the Jones — Sharing Travel Discoveries

An Updated Look at Holland America’s Canaletto Restaurant Menu

by Janis on March 14, 2015

When we recently sailed on a 7-Day Western Caribbean cruise on board Holland America’s ms Nieuw Amsterdam, we enjoyed dinner one evening in the Canaletto Italian restaurant. It was our first time of trying this specialty restaurant since September, 2013 when the cruise line was testing its new “Spartire“ or sharing menu concept for the Canaletto restaurant.

Here is an updated look at some of our favorite menu items in the Canaletto restaurant on Holland America Line cruise ships.

The Canaletto restaurant, named for the famous 18th century Venetian artist, is adjacent to the Lido Restaurant dining area, on deck nine of the Nieuw Amsterdam cruise ship. Dinner is served nightly, by reservations, at a charge of $10 per person (or $5 per person for 4 and 5 Star Mariners.)

The menu is designed for sharing. For our four-person dining group, we ordered four small plates, two pastas and two large plates, and it was just about the right amount of food. (We had dessert, also, which is one of the delights of the menu.

The portions seemed smaller than they were during the test; a better size so that you can try more menu items.

From the Small Plates section of the menu, we chose the Salumi plate of meats, cheese, breadsticks and olives.

We also enjoyed two orders of the Veal and Sage Polpettine (meatballs) with glazed cippolini onions in a rustic tomato sauce. This small plate is ideal for two people to share, but if there are more at your table, order more so that everyone can try one or two meatballs.

This was the Canaletto Salad, which is the only menu item that we tried that we would not recommend. The Boston lettuce was still in its head, and we had to ask for an extra fork and knife to chop the salad at the table. Everything about this salad was uninspired, and not appropriate for easy “sharing.”

On the far left side of the photo above, note the bread and olive oil with balsamic vinegar. Dangerously delicious, this bread and dipping sauce should be enjoyed with care as to not overshadow your appetite for the rest of the menu.

For the next Pasta course, we choose Pappardelle with shrimp and artichokes in a lemony sauce, and the Potato Gnocchi with braised short rib and mascarpone. Both were divinely rich and delicious.

We all chose the Sautéed Veal Piccata for our Large Plate, so we had two orders. One plate serves two perfectly.

Making a dessert choice is tough. The Tiramisu (see the photo at the top of this post) is heavenly. There are four flavors of gelato to choose from, or mix and match. There is a plate of Italian cheeses. The Torta Al Cacao with walnut praline was popular.

You can definitely taste the lemon liquor in the Limoncello Crí¨me trio.

Our Bottom Line on the Canaletto:

it’s a nice change of pace from the main dining room;
you can feel comfortable dining here on a formal night without formal wear (we dressed nicely, just not ties and cocktail dresses;
the menu has been fine-tuned since the “testing” phase; mostly all items are hits;
effort has been made to improve the ambience, and offer a separate feel from the Lido (at least on the Nieuw Amsterdam ship.)

Still, we would prioritize a specialty meal in the Tamarind or the Pinnacle Grill over one in the Canaletto if we had to make a choice.

Have you dined in the Canaletto restaurant on a Holland America ship lately? How was your experience? Please share in comments below.

Check out these other posts from our cruises on the Nieuw Amsterdam:

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The Cabana Club on Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam

by Janis on March 9, 2015

For our recent 7-Day Western Caribbean cruise on Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam, we pre-booked a private cabana at the Cabana Club on the Observation Deck.

We had tried to book one of these cabanas before, for the day, once we were onboard the cruise ship. We never succeeded, as the cabanas are very popular and tend to be all booked ahead of the cruise.

For this cruise, we planned ahead and booked one of the Retreat Cabanas in advance through ship services.

Once we got settled in onboard, we headed to check-out our cabana. We were assigned to the Portofino cabana.

There was a note in our stateroom to check-in for our cabana at the lido bar. The bartender did not know what we were talking about, and told us to go to the front desk. (We skipped that advice, and headed directly to the Cabana Club, which was the correct decision.)

The two Cabana Club servers introduced themselves, and soon we were sipping a complimentary glass of sparkling wine.

Each regular cabana on the ms Nieuw Amsterdam measures 13′ x 8′ feet, and has two chaise loungers, and a table with two chairs. There are bottles of water (in an ice bucket) and two Evian Brumisateur misters.

I stuck my head into one of the two family cabanas for a quick photo. These measure 17′ x 12′-6″ feet on the Nieuw Amsterdam. They are hold four people, and are on both ends of the Cabana Club, with a much better view of the ocean. At $449 for a 7-day cruise, I would choose one of these next time if they were available.

Outside of the cabanas is a private sun lounging area.

Here is a better view of the Cabana Club sun lounging area.

The Cabana Club attendants take good care of the guests. They bring menus each day, and you can order lunch from the lido or the Dive-In. They would also get drinks from the bar for us, using our Signature Beverage cards.

Normally, I do not eat hot dogs. Once I had a bite of The Dog Paddle from the Dive-In, however, I was hooked. The Dog Paddle is topped with sauerkraut, crispy bacon bits and German mustard on a poppy seed bun. Yum!

One of our main goals for booking a Cabana was to have a quiet, shaded place to read. (I brought along a big pile of books, most of which are now in the Nieuw Amsterdam “book sharing” section of the library in the Explorations Cafe.)

My favorite use of the Cabana was to spend the morning reading while sipping a coffee from the nearby Explorations Cafe.

Sitting at the table, we could also enjoy a good view. That is Half Moon Cay off in the distance. Of course, we could not sit around and look at it for long; we left our cabana and headed ashore for a walk on that incredible white powder sand beach.

Have you enjoyed a cabana in the Cabana Club on Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam, Eurodam or Noordam? What did you think? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Are you planning a cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam? You may want to check out these related blog posts:

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A Look at the Dim Sum Lunch in Holland America’s Tamarind Restaurant

by Janis on March 6, 2015

During our 7-Day Western Caribbean cruise on Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam, we visited the Tamarind specialty restaurant our first day to make a reservation for the dim sum lunch.

Dinner in the Tamarind, which we also enjoy, is $20.00 per person, but the set menu lunch is complimentary. You must, however, make a reservation, and it is best to do so the first day of your cruise as space is limited.

Here’s is a look at the Tamarind set lunch menu, which is offered on both the ms Eurodam and ms Nieuw Amsterdam.

The Dim Sum lunch begins with hot & sour soup. Ours had a nice amount of spicy kick to it, although you can probably request less spice.

Next up is the Asian Szechuan Sesame Salad. We wish they would use about 25 percent of the crispy noodles on top, or better yet put them on the side, but buried underneath all of the noodles is a crisp salad of iceberg lettuce and red onion.

Now it’s time for the main event. The Dim Sum includes four kinds of steamed dumplings – chicken, pork, vegetable and shrimp “shu Mai”. The fried pieces include a vegetable spring roll, a salmon roll, shrimp won ton stick and a spicy crab Rangoon. All are served with four dipping sauces and a side of fried rice.

The steamed pieces are my favorite, while Mr. Jones loves the fried rice. The fried dim sum pieces are also tasty, but we’d prefer more steamed pieces. There is still dessert, which you do not want to miss.

On the Dim Sum Lunch menu, you only have to make one decision: what to have for dessert.

We recommend the green tea tiramisu, which is the most popular choice.

As a second choice, the coconut ice cream is a nice creamy ending to a spicy meal (if you choose the spicy sauce, but three of the four sauces were not spicy to us.)

The Tamarind is generally only open for lunch on sea days, and perhaps one or two port days on a 7-day cruise. Be sure to make your lunch reservation on the first day that you board your cruise.

One other note: before or after lunch, or some other afternoon, you may want to check out the Silk Den bar across the hallway from the Tamarind restaurant. It is a beautiful bar with unique cocktails and sake, and it is also a nice quiet place to relax during the morning or afternoon.

Have you enjoyed lunch at the Tamarind? What is your favorite dessert choice? Please share in comments below.

Check out these other Holland America dining-related posts:

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A Look Inside a Verandah Stateroom on Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam Cruise Ship

by Janis on March 5, 2015

For our recent 7-Day Western Caribbean cruise on Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam, we booked a Category VF verandah guarantee.

We were assigned to the verandah stateroom #4031, located on the forward section of Deck 4, the Upper Promenade Deck. Here’s a look inside.

Here’s the view when you enter verandah stateroom #4031. The luggage protector is in place on the end of the bed for unpacking your luggage when it arrives. Meanwhile, the daily program and other important information is there for you.

Notice on the table, there is a wire basket. It has a form inside to check which fresh fruit you’d like delivered to your cabin.

Here (above) is the view from the window/verandah side of the stateroom looking back. The bathroom door is open. We appreciate the two sturdy hooks on the wall, and the reading lights by each side of the bed. Now, if they’d just add electrical plugs to each bedside….

As with most cruise ship cabins, the only electrical plugs are over on the desk. This area is also the location of the lighted make-up mirror, the ice bucket, and the mini-fridge (hidden in the cabinet.) All of the on board booklets and paper clutter this area. Two important pieces of paper (above) contain our complimentary Signature Beverage Package cards since we booked during the Explore 4 promotion last fall. (You always want to check all of that paper in your cabin carefully, before tossing it in the recycle part of the trash can.)

To keep all of our devices charged despite the lack of plugs, we bring along a Portable Travel Power Strip with USB Charging Ports.

The television is small, but we heard that those are being replaced in the upcoming dry dock.

Verandah stateroom #4031 is a connecting cabin (see the door above.) We generally do not like connecting rooms, but we did buy a guarantee rather than purchasing a specific stateroom. We were pleasantly surprised, however, that we heard no noise from next door on either side of our cabin, or from the hallway, or above or below. It was a very quiet room.

Here’s a close-up view of the window and door to the verandah. There is a black-out liner and full curtains to pull at night or when you don’t want the sunshine streaming in your cabin (such as when you need a later afternoon nap.) The verandah door has a lock and key, and you have to turn the key multiple rounds to shut and/or open the door.

Stepping outside on the verandah, there is a chair and small table to go with the bigger chair and foot rest. This verandah is much larger than the one we had when we’ve sailed in the Spa Verandah staterooms on Decks 10 and 11 on the Nieuw Amsterdam.

Back inside stateroom #4013 here’s a look in the bathroom with a shower/tub. Notice the three containers of shampoo, conditioner and shower gel in the shower (very convenient), and the adjustable shower head (that makes very tall people like Mr. Jones happy.)

The sink is a little cramped, with one shelf belong and several small glass shelves above. We wish there was a container of hand soap here. Instead, there is a nice bar of soap, but it tends to get slimy pretty quickly.

Our bottom line on the Holland America Line Verandah Stateroom #4031 on the Nieuw Amsterdam:

This cabin is convenient to the Promenade Deck only one deck below, for easy access to the outside wrap-around promenade walking deck, the showroom, and the other activities on decks 3 and 2.
The room was very quiet and peaceful.
The verandah itself is significantly larger than those we’ve had on Spa Verandah Staterooms located on Decks 10 and 11.
The “wall” of this verandah is made of steel rather than clear material, which means you cannot see through it (although we did not consider this to be an issue.)
We did not use the verandah much on this cruise, because we booked a Cabana Club retreat.

Have you sailed in a verandah stateroom on Holland America Line? If so, what did you think? Please share your thoughts in comments below.

To take a look around other cruise ships, check out these posts:

- A Look Around the World’s Largest Cruise Ship, the Allure of the Seas

- A Look Inside Suite 325 on the Seabourn Pride

- A Look Inside Interior Cabin #10425 on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas

- Views from the Seabourn Pride

A Look Inside Interior Cabin B-625 on the Star Princess Cruise Ship

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