HobokenFoodCritic

Since HobokenFoodCritic.com is intended to be based on the Hoboken area, I might sometimes write about experiences slightly beyond Hoboken that may be of particular interest.

One of the great things about Hoboken is it’s proximity to Manhattan, and the accessibility of all the dining experiences New York City has to offer. We decided to take advantage of one of these unique experiences to celebrate our anniversary, as I had mentioned in a previous post.

As we were driving through the Lincoln Tunnel, with our bags packed for an overnight trip, Ashley still had no idea where I was taking her. Somehow, I had managed to keep it a secret for almost four months. We emerged from the tunnel on the New York side, and made our way over to the West Side Highway, where we headed due north.

Almost immediately, we saw a pair of immense cruise ships docked along the Hudson. One of those ships was the Norwegian Dawn, a ship we had spent 10 nights on back in February on a cruise of the Eastern Caribbean. We had a great time on that trip, but we were saddened to hear that by November, the Dawn would no longer be cruising out of New York–it is being sent to cruise out of Miami, and will be replaced in New York by the Norwegian Gem, a bigger, newer ship. So, as attached as we were to the Dawn, we might never step foot on it again.

“There’s our ship!” Ashley exclaimed–she still had no idea what was going on. I continued to play dumb, but as we made the turn on 52nd Street toward the piers, I had to tell her. “We’re going on an overnight dinner cruise on the Norwegian Dawn!” I don’t think I’ve ever seen her flip out more than when I said those words.

The Norwegian Dawn, “our ship”, is 965 feet long and can hold a capacity of 2,224 guests and 1,086 Crew. It is equipped with 13 restaurants and 9 bars and lounges, along with a ton of other amenities including a casino, spa, fitness center, golf driving net, auditorium, internet cafe, 2 swimming pools, 6 hot tubs, and a jogging track along the outside perimeter of the ship. Yet, while an overnight trip aboard a floating city might be a bit overwhelming for first-time cruisers, we knew its layout like the back of our hands after spending 10 nights on the ship back in February. We had eaten at all the restaurants, and gone to all the bars. We had already done our exploring, and we knew what we liked. And now we had one more night to make the most of it.

Norwegian Cruise Line differentiates itself from other cruise lines not only because it pioneered the use of New York City as a port of embarkation, but also because it originated the concept of “freestyle dining”, which means you can eat whenever you want at any of the wide variety of restaurants onboard. Reservations are recommended at some of the restaurants, and a few of the more upscale ones charge a small cover of $10-20 per person. The rest are free. I like the freestyle concept because you are not bound to eating at any certain time and you can enjoy the intimacy of sitting at your own table, much unlike many other cruises where you are sitting with a bunch of people you don’t know. That’s not my style.

The variety and quality of the restaurants on board is amazing. Among the 13 restaurants to choose from are a Japanese restaurant adjoined to a sushi bar (complete with a moving sushi train), a Spanish restaurant called Salsa, an upscale steakhouse called Cagney’s, a French restaurant called Le Bistro (which features glass-encased rare artwork on its walls), and even a casual buffet called the Garden Cafe. Many of these restaurants are not exclusive only to the Dawn–the same ones can be found aboard other Norwegian ships as well.

We decided to have dinner at The Venetian, which is one of the no-cover, no-reservation restaurants aboard the ship. That is not to say it is lesser quality than the others–the restaurant resembles a grand ballroom with high ceilings, complete with a magnificent chandelier, and windows on three sides looking out to the sunset over the water. Although the ship was filled to capacity, we walked right in and got a table by the window immediately.

The portions at most of the restaurants are a bit smaller than you would expect from a traditional restaurant. But the great thing about it is, you can order as many courses as you want. You can even order two main courses if you are feeling adventurous (and shameless). Ashley started with a butternut squash soup, which was served cold. She said it was good, but I took her word for it.

I started with a Greek salad, which had olives and feta cheese and was topped with some kind of sweet, lemony dressing. That was followed by a cold seafood appetizer that basically looked like an ice cream sundae, but instead of ice cream it was filled with shrimp, lobster, and chunks of fish. Ashley was jealous of that one when she saw it, but she refrained from ordering one herself to save room for the main course.

For the main course, we both ordered peppercorn crusted sirloin steaks with a side of vegetables and rice. I ordered it medium well, which was probably a mistake because it was a bit too well done for my liking. Ashley’s was medium, and was cooked much better. The steaks were a little flatter and not quite as mouth-watering as the ones you would get at Cagney’s (where there is a $20 cover), but they were decent.

For dessert, I had a chocolate lava cake, which oozed chocolate goodness. I was happy that it was a perfect portion for one person, because that meant I wouldn’t have to share too much of it. Still, though Ashley managed to get a few spoonfuls, though she was busy enough with her peach sorbet. I washed mine down with a glass of Remy Martin VSOP (though I prefer scotch over cognac).

After dinner, we barhopped a bit, and then went to a show called “Band on the Run” in the Stardust Theater, which is similar to going to a show on Broadway. The show was impressive, with a mix of up-tempo music and acrobatics. I would highly recommend attending the live entertainment provided on Norwegian’s ships–they are known for their outstanding shows, and often feature well-known performers.

Did you ever see that commercial where the guy sneaks the beer bottles into the theater and they all smash in his coat when the performer hits a high note? Well, when you’re on a cruise you don’t have to worry about sneaking alcohol into the shows, you can just flag down one of the many servers walking around the theater and order a drink. You can even order a bucket of beers if you don’t want to keep ordering drinks throughout the whole performance [Warning - may cause excessive trips to the bathroom!].

Later on, we went to an audience-interactive, and highly raunchy, “game show” called The Quest. All I can really say about that is that it involved numerous articles of women’s undergarments as well as men having to put on lipstick and all kinds of crazy and embarrassing acts. Plus, since it was almost midnight, everyone had a pretty good buzz going by that time of the night.

We stayed out for a while, and after winning $52 on slot machines in the casino, we finally got to bed around 3am. We only had one night on the ship, so we made sure we didn’t miss anything.

The ship cruised east, almost out as far as the tip of Long Island, before turning around in the middle of the night to make its way back home.

When we woke up the next morning, I knew there was one thing that was still missing. See, on our previous trip on the Dawn, there were these little bran muffins available at all the cafes and breakfast restaurants. I had developed such a liking for those muffins that by the time the trip was over, it was a little joke of ours that I would miss the muffins more than anything else on the trip. So, naturally, on our current trip I had kept my eyes peeled for the muffins, but they were nowhere to be found.

We went to breakfast at the buffet-style Garden Cafe, and we filled up our plates with breakfast foods such as eggs and Canadian bacon. As we were nearing the end of the buffet line, lo and behold, I found the muffins! Knowing this would be my last time on the Dawn, and I wouldn’t be going on any cruises in the near future, I knew what I had to do. I took one bran muffin and put it on my plate, and then took another one and wrapped it in a napkin. I savored every bite of the one muffin with the rest of my breakfast, and yes, I smuggled the other one off the ship, and took it home.

The following night, back at our Hoboken apartment, I re-lived our cruise experiences on the Dawn one last time, as I enjoyed my last bran muffin along with a dram of the Glenlivet 12 year that I bought at the duty-free “Galleria” on the ship.

In November, the Dawn will make its way to Miami, where it will be stationed permanently. I am glad we were able to stay on it one last time to give us a sense of closure. But there are other ships that will continue to voyage out of New York. The Dawn’s replacement, for example, will be the Norwegian Gem, which is a brand new ship, and is supposed to be even more spectacular. We look forward to giving it a try–perhaps it could be “our new ship”. I can only hope it will have the same bran muffins.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 4th, 2007 at 11:52 pm and is filed under Beyond Hoboken, Hoboken Waterfront. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.