Afternoon Tea at Sea

Hello Steepers! I recently experienced one of the most unique Afternoon Teas of my life! Afternoon tea in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, on a cruise ship set to Alaska! This opportunity came through Holland America cruise lines ,where they offered afternoon tea three days out of my eight day cruise. I experienced it twice!

A Little Bit of History: Holland America Line (HAL) originally operated as a Dutch shipping line, a passenger line, a cargo line, and a cruise line between Europe and North America (specially New York and the Netherlands). It’s since expanded greatly with ports all around the world! In 1989, the Holland America Line was bought by Carnival Corp, and became a US–owned cruise line, headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

My family was on the Eurodam cruise ship for an eight day Alaskan cruise from Seattle. Though this was my first Holland America Cruise, they promote afternoon tea on all of their ships as a fun included activity on days when you are either not at a port, or have most of the day spent at sea. They provide a daily schedule (in paper and on an app) so you can see which days it is available and plan accordingly.

The Experience: If you’ve been on a cruise before, you know there are pre-booked activities you can take part in with an extra expense, and there are also daily activities that are available on the ship without an additional expense. This afternoon tea experience was available three days on our eight day cruise and was included in the price of the cruise as an optional activity. I was able to experience it twice.

On the days afternoon tea was provided, it was always offered at 3pm. Unlike most of the afternoon teas I’ve been to, (which are large enough to substitute meals), this was small bites situated between lunch and dinner. This is actually the proper time for afternoon tea (and was the original reason afternoon tea was invented! To have a little something before dinner!)

There were no tea options in this experience. Everyone was offered the same black tea (as much as you want) and milk and sugar were available at the table.

The tiers were the classic three tiers of afternoon tea (sweet, savory, and scones). They were tiny tiers since this was just supposed to be a snack and not a full meal. Every table received the same tiers. There was no menu or options to choose from. These were preset and you got what you got! My first time at the tea, my party of five received:

• 4 mini cream puffs (1 strawberry, 2 original flavor, 1 pistachio),

• 3 sandwiches (fig jam, tuna, salmon)

• 3 prefilled scones and a coffee cake

As mentioned, these were pretty tiny tiers, and the first time we went, every table received the same amount regardless of party size. So my party of five had to split everything in half. However we were asked if we wanted more, and then we received a second tier! The second tier though, contained a mismatch of treats: 7 cream puffs, 3 sandwiches, and 1 coffee cake (no scones).

The second time I went for the afternoon tea was a little different. Our party of five was immediately given two of the three tier settings and we were not asked if we wanted refills. The sandwiches and the scones were the same, but we received different desserts. In edition to cream puffs, we had a mini apple tart, a butter cookie and a lemon cake.

The staff made sure your tea was full at all times and they accommodated everybody who came since this was an included ship activity.

As of Today: As mentioned, Holland America offers this afternoon tea experience in most (if not all) of their cruises. They usually are scheduled on days where you are either on the boat completely or are spending most of the day on the boat. This is an included activity with the price of your cruise, so no additional expense or reservation needed to partake! You show up at the designated time and place!

My Rating: 4/5 teacups! This was just a simple, not highly elevated afternoon tea. It’s small bites, it’s traditional, and it was just a fun “add on” for a cruise experience without a lot of frills. I would definitely do it again if I’m on another Holland America cruise.

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