2nd Annual Foodie Friends @ Sea Cruise

What a great time we had on the 2nd Annual Foodie Friends at Sea cruise! Twenty nine of us sailed January 6, 2008 from Tampa on Holland America’s Veendam. Some of us were local Floridians and others came from around the country or from the UK. Some of us were there for the “Foodie” aspect and others were there just for the “Friends”. Some were old friends and some were new friends, but by the end of the cruise we were all Good Friends! The one thing that tied us all together was Pat and Bob Sheldon, our hosts and guest chefs extraordinaire.

The Veendam is a wonderful mid size ship: 55,758 gross tons, 720 feet long with a passenger capacity of 1,258 and crew of 557. It is elegantly decorated with beautiful art work and subdued colors. The public rooms are all beautiful and comfortable and we never felt crowded. My husband Stuart and I were in a verandah cabin on deck 9 and it was quite roomy at 292 square feet with more storage space than we needed.

Our ports of call were Key West; Belize City, Belize; Santo Tomas De Castilla, Guatemala; and Cozumel, Mexico.

We gathered in the Crows Nest (a great lounge on deck 12 forward with wonderful panoramic views) for our sail away from Tampa. We were blessed with beautiful weather for the sail away, as we were for the entire cruise.

Monday, our first port of call was Key West. We docked right in town at Mallory Square. What a great port! Lots of things to see right in walking distance or by the Conch Tour Train or Old Town Trolley. Some of our group visited Hemingway’s house, Truman’s Little White House, and other tourist sites. While others spent their time in the numerous shops and bars (I have heard fun times were had and there are pictures to prove it!) along Duval Street. That evening we had a wonderful party in the Crow’s Nest to celebrate Seena’s birthday. Thank you Seena and Bill for letting us all celebrate with you.

Tuesday was a day at sea. In the morning we had a private galley tour, which was interesting, but not as good as some I have had on other ships. We basically did a quick walk through the galley with few comments or information on what we were seeing. One of the few disappointments of the cruise.

Next, many of us attended a beginner Tai Chi class in the gym taught by our own Seena Baker! Seena lead our group through some basic moves which was a little difficult for most of us that were first timers, particularly as the seas were a little rough. I don’t know about the rest of the group, but it made me want to find a Tai Chi class to attend.

The big event of the cruise was the cooking demonstration by Pat and Bob Sheldon (assisted by Karen and Mark Sheldon and Marcus, the chef for the Pinnacle Grill) in the Veendam’s beautiful Culinary Arts Center. They cooked up a delicious feast of tuiles (one thing I know we can all master!), croutons with tapenade and smoked trout, puff pastry stuffed with (olives, sausage, and chicken & spinach), Yorkshire pudding, and the final touch, the best Crepes Suzettes on the planet! Pat showed us the versitality of puff pastry and Yorkshire pudding (same batter as crepes). Bob reminded us that Recipes are living things. They mature with use and evolve as we do.

Wednesday we were in Belize. What a beautiful and diverse country….Mayan ruins, jungles, and some of the best diving and snorkeling in the world. Great comments came from those in our group that went cave tubing, snorkeling, and touring of town and the Belize zoo. The ship tour I was scheduled for was cancelled, so I ventured out on my own to find an internet café and tour Belize City. There are a couple of internet cafes within an easy walk from the dock. I found (or rather he found me) a taxi driver/tour guide that drove me to all the sites around town and waited while I toured the museum and church. He was quite knowledgeable and charged me $15 for the tour. His name is Daniel Dougal (danieldougal65@hotmail.com) and can do tours to the Mayan Ruins, Zoo, etc. There are lots of shops in the port buildings and also right outside the port. They expect you to bargain. Some of their things are made in Guatemala which I found to be cheaper in Santo Tomas. Tonight was the Master Chef’s Dinner. Great dinner, entertaining staff, and weren’t we all cute in our Chef’s hats!

Thursday and on to Santo Tomas De Castilla. This is a relatively new cruise port and I heard wonderful comments from all who ventured off the ship. It was a long and wonderful day for those that took the flight to Honduras to see the Mayan ruins of Copan. Others in the group enjoyed the closer Mayan ruins of Quirigua, a drive through the country side and visit to a Banana plantation, and San Felipe, a fortress built by the Spaniards. Stuart, Peppy, and I took what was called a “Nature and Culture Bay Cruise” offered by HAL. It was a nice boat trip around the bay and through the mangroves, but we didn’t learn much about the culture as the microphone didn’t work and we couldn’t hear what the tour guide had to say. The port has a wonderful terminal with entertainment, food and drinks, and vendors selling all the interesting and inexpensive crafts of Guatemala. They expect you to bargain. I bought necklaces for my granddaughters that started out at $5 apiece and ended up costing 3 for $5. There are also tour operators in the terminal offering many of the same tours as the cruise line at a lower cost. I don’t think it matters which one you use as I understand that individually they don’t usually have enough people to fill a group, so they combine them. Just know if you are on an independent tour and don’t make it back to the ship on time, it will leave without you! This was our night in the Pinnacle Grill. Wow! The best filet mignon I think I have ever tasted! I heard the same kind of comments from everyone.

Friday and we are in Cozumel, Mexico, along with 5 other cruise ships which made for large crowds. Our group went off on various shore excursions or took a taxi to town to explore on their own. It was a beautiful day for beach and water activities. I heard from some that the snorkeling wasn’t as good a Belize (the reefs have not recovered from the damage by Hurricane Wilma a few years ago). I also heard they make very good and strong Margaritas in San Miguel!

Saturday, our last day is spent at sea to rest and relax and enjoy the ship before returning to port Sunday morning. We got together in the afternoon for a little more food talk and a private premium wine tasting. The wines were personally picked by Bob Sheldon and Felipe, Cellar Master. Felipe is very knowledgeable about wines and led us through our tasting. The wines were excellent and Stuart will be checking with our favorite local wine source, Total Wine, for availability and pricing. Saturday night was another great dinner in the Rotterdam dining room. Many of us had lobster and escargot prepared specially for our group. We surprised Lois with a birthday cake (gluten free and it was really good!) and Marv surprised us all with Champagne for the group! Many of us went back to our cabins to pack and get to bed early, while others continued to celebrate the evening in the disco. I wasn’t one of those partying in the disco, so someone else will have to complete this part.

We woke early Sunday morning and though we couldn’t see a thing, thought we were docked in Tampa. Wrong! We were anchored four hours away as the port of Tampa was closed due to fog. We finally made it into port around noon and everyone that had flights was able to reschedule or make their original flight.

Thanks to all of you for being such a great group! It makes me so happy to hear that everyone had such a good time on the cruise! That is what keeps me doing what I am doing! Please give me suggestions for the next Foodie Friends Cruise or other group you would like to put together. I would love to help you plan your next trip!
Annette Hostetter, Annette@cwcruises.com, 727-492-4479