Cruise to Alaska - My luncheon aboard ship the ms Amsterdam

A couple weeks ago I had a wonderful invitation from my travel agent, Kathleen Tansey to have lunch aboard the ship the ms Amsterdam.  It is the sister ship of the ms Zaandam.  The ms Zaandam is the ship we will be on for our AMAZING cruise to Alaska in August 2010.  I was already excited about the cruise, but I have never cruised before. My imagination had been running wild about what it is like-and I have to tell you-the luncheon and tour exceeded all my expectations. 

Our first stop was a room they have set up for live entertainment.  It was beautifully decorated with all different kinds of art and statues. The ship crew greeted us with mimosa's and kept them coming if you wished for more than 1.  :) We watched a short clip about Holland America and the world cruises they offer-(someday I will get to go on one of those)!  They also asked about how many days the crowd had cruised-apparently it is rather additcting because many of them had cruised for over 200 days!  I imagine that is total days cruised-not consecutive.  WOW!  I was impressed-but that kept me from snapping pictures of everything.  Didn't want to risk looking like a tourist that was not going anywhere but back home....lol.

Then we were off to lunch in the main dining room.  We sat on the upper level, and the view of Seattle was really great by the end of lunch.  It had been foggy and misty most of the day.

The food was exceptional.  Served with ice water, and all the wine you want.

Menu:

Creamy Grilled Tomato Soup

Topped with basil foam

Salad of Lobster and Grapfruit

Asparagus and pink grapefruit vinaigrette

Olive Oil Poached Alaskan Salmon

Warm vegetable salad and balsamic vinigrette

or

Oven Baked Rack of Lamb

Roasted bell pepper puree, Meditereanean vegetables and rosemary-garlic demi-glace

or

Harvest Butternut Squash Risotto

Petit mache in tangy, tangerine vinaigrette

Crunchy Fruit Napoleon

On chocolate and fruit sauces

Petits Fours, Coffee, Tea

The whole thing was so incredible.  I was so full, I could not believe it. 

The crew was so friendly and the service was absoultly first class. I felt like royalty! 

(my lunch today is microwave heated Progresso soup-wish I were back on the ship)

After lunch, we went on a self guided tour.  I got to see the Hudson room, which will be our stamping/scrapbooking room 24-7 during the cruise, the gym, the spa, the library, both pools (pictured below) -OH and this huge buffet of food-all kinds of sandwiches, pannini(sp), wraps, fruit, salads and the huge dessert section.  Oh man-if you didn't like the menu for lunch, just go order yourself a custom sandwich or whatever your heart desires!!  I think there was also tacos, and chinese food-it was such a huge buffet-and it is open 24 hours a day.  Need a midnight snack-go have one of the chef's whip you something up!  The ship was boarding already for the cruise leaving at 4pm that day, and there were people getting themselves snacks and all kinds of stuff to eat. 

Here is a pic of me next to the pool that has a roof that opens when the weather is nice. 

Pool on the top deck-this is where I will be hanging out when I am not stamping or scrapbooking!

Nightclub at the top of the ship.  Amazing views.  The lady in the picture is Leenora.  Leenora and her husband joined Kathleen and I for lunch.  They are experienced cruisers, and were a wealth of information, answering any and all of my inquiries (its any wonder how I ate my lunch-my motormouth just kept asking questions about their experiences) They are a very sweet couple.

I will add our itinerary details later.  It is going to be so much fun!  I hope you join us!