rajkr74

Back to Ft. Lauderdale for the next segment.

Early morning cruise into Ft. Lauderdale.

St. Maarten. We have been there many times so we just walked into town from the dock and went around to the stores. We sat around at the beach people watching. We had 4 ships in including the RCC Allure of the Sea (yikes) so down town was crowded after 10:00 am. We got over there earlier in the morning and left after noon.

Four ships in at St. Maarten.

What a crowd!

St. Lucia. HAL does an all day excursion that we had heard about but had not taken the last time we were there. So, we booked it on this cruise, “Exclusive Historical Island Extravaganza” a 7 Hr. excursion and at the end of the day the ship picks us up by tender on the other side of the island from where we docked in the morning. We totally enjoyed this excursion and recommend it to anyone. We saw most of the island, had a nice lunch and were able to watch the Oosterdam from a view point as it come around the island to pick us up, pretty cool.

Pitons

Ship waiting to pick us up in the tenders.

We were on the Zuiderdam last year right after it came out of drydock from Palermo Sicily. We got on the ship in Civitavecchia (Rome). The ship went thru major cabin additions like the Noordam had done previously. New cabins were added on Deck 10 (Observation) right behind the Crows Nest in the area that was open deck with lounge chairs. This addition was suppose to be completed by the time we boarded on 4-14-15.....however that did not happen. The Italian contractors struck for 3 days during dry dock and Easter also caused a delay. When we boarded they were still working to complete the additions so the Explorations Bar and Crows Nest were not available for the first 7 days of our 22 day cruise. Staff moved the coffee making machines down to the Atrium Bar so those coffee drinkers could still get their specialty drinks. We also were compensated with on board credit for this inconvenience. If you did not use up the on board credit it would be applied as a refund to your credit card at the end of the cruise.

We heard of some passengers who had cabin problems that were rectified in short order but we had no problems with our cabin. We saw carpets had been replaced in most of the public areas. We did not see any upgrades to our cabin nor did we hear of any cabins getting upgrades. The cabin was in good condition and we were quite happy with it. The cruise also was very port intensive with only 3 sea days in the 22 day cruise so we were not inconvenienced what so ever and were off ship more than on doing excursions. We consider the cruise one of the best , if not the best cruise we have taken with HAL.

We have heard from postings here on CC that one should never go on a cruise after dry dock. We did not experience that many problems. The staff had their normal happy smiley attitudes and the service was just as good as any ship far from dry dock. Most of the original crew stays on board the ship during dry dock so it not like the ship is getting a whole new crew after dry dock. I would not let it concern you if the itinerary is one that you want to experience, go with the flow and enjoy yourself.

rajkr - what type of camera did you use for snorkeling? Color and clarity is amazing!

 

dave

The photo of the turtle was shot with a Nikon Coolpix AW 110. It shots both stills and video. Nikon now has the AW 120 out. We had a Nikon AW100 but the screen quit working so we only had the one camera. Luckily at the moment the turtle came by the sun had come back out. Also, That photo has NO retouching done to it. It has been probably the best under water photo we have gotten on the camera. There were three other swimmers around the turtle so I was lucky to get a couple shots without humans in the scene. We do a lot of snorkeling in Hawaii also and have gotten some great shots of dolphins on this camera that swam right by us one time. It's a good camera.

Ports.

On our 21 day cruise we had 6 sea days so the cruise had a lot of ports to visit.

Half Moon Cay. We visited as our first port and our last port. We always enjoy this island and the great beach. So we just relaxed and lounged under the shade of the trees near some hammocks. We shared the island, on the first stop, with the Nieuw Amsterdam which made it a little more crowded. The barbeque is OK but we skipped it on the 2nd visit and went back and had hamburgers on the ship from the Dive-In.

Grand Turk. Not much to do there but sit on the beach or shop around Margaritaville.

Dominican Republic. We took a private excursion from Tours by Terry. I was a good excursion and included lunch on a beautiful beach. At the end we walked around the town before taking the tender back to the ship.

Bonaire. We did a private snorkel excursion with Woodwind tours. We snorkeled at 2 dive spots and had a good crew who took care of the passengers with everything about snorkeling. We had a few clouds and the water was a little rough but still had great time. Got some good underwater shots.

Curacao. This was a new port to us, and this was a great port. We obtained a written walking tour map for viewing the buildings around own. It allowed us to walk the town and view the buildings. We really enjoyed this port and the buildings and people. We docked on the inside harbor past the floating pedestrian walking bridge.

Arub. We walked around town but there are just so many of the 1001 jewelry stores one can see. We then walked right down the street from the main part of town to check out any beaches we could find. Found a little boardwalk and sat and watched the ocean for a while.

More review to follow.

On the same cruise with you we agree with everything you have said so far our best cruise yet. Did a review on cruise critic. Buffett123

Read your CC review, nice review. Agree with everything you said in the review. It was a great cruise and we got to a lot of islands we had not been to before.

Hello from the Ne. Husker couple. We enjoyed our visit with you folks about our new coach. Enjoying your review, they help to pass the days until the next cruise.

It was a pleasure meeting and talking with you. It's amazing meeting people and finding things in common. We enjoyed the cruise immensely and all the nice people we met. We ran into people from Corvallis OR also (home of OR State Univ.). We too are trying to figure out when and what our next cruise is going to be. Maybe we will run into each other on an up coming cruise.

New items or changes on the ship. Our cruise saw the first use of the new scanners for the “safety drill. We checked with our table mates who had been on board since 1-8-16 and they said that was the first time they were used for the 2-19-16 sailing. We experienced them on the Zuiderdam last year and were surprised they took so long to get to the Oosterdam. But, as before, the scanners helped speed the process which only took about 15 to 20 mins.

In addition on the 2nd 11 day segment of our cruise on 2-29-16 we were informed by the letter for “In Transit” passengers that we were not required to attend that “Safety Drill”. I was very surprised and asked around and it was confirmed we were not required to attend. This is the exact wording on the letter:

PASSENGER SAFETY EMERGENCY DRILL. Current procedure requires guests who are sailing for periods in excess of one month to attend at a minimum, one passenger safety emergency drill each month while aboard. For this reason, you are not required to attend the next drill in Fort Lauderdale.

We did verify with our “long cruising” table mates that the prior two “In Transit” days they were on they were required to attend the drill. So this appears to be a new change of rules. I decided to view a movie in the screening room that day. The only ones at the movie were “In Transit” passengers. But to our dismay….the safety drill announcements cut the audio of the movie during the last three minutes and we missed the most important lines at the end of the movie. Had to watch the end of the movie the next day on the TV to hear the actor’s lines.

The “In Transit” day in FLL had us all go to the Vista Lounge forward and take a lettered card. We waited about 30 minutes and then were called to present our passports to the US emigration officer at the top of the stairs and we were done. It was a very easy process and we were out of there by 10:40am.

They have gotten rid of the “small” glasses in the Lido buffet…YEAH!!!!. They are now larger tumbler sized glasses. Now I don’t have to carry 2-3 of the small glasses back to my table for drink. The down side is the breakfast juices tend to have too much juice for most people in the morning. Sorry no picture, but if this is fleet wide everyone should love them.

They now have LARGE salad bowls in the Lido that I was not real fond of. The salad bar was not self-serve so you have to make sure to tell them you wanted a small salad or you would get a full bowl. I guess they work well for those that wanted a large salad. The picture shows how they provided dressing on the side one day….lol.

New salad bowls

Across from the Front Deck on the Main deck was a machine about 2’ by 2’ by 4’ tall which had a video screen that allowed you to swipe your cabin card it then printed out a statement with your daily charges. It made it easier than waiting in line for someone to print a statement for you. I worked very well and saved time in line. Sorry forgot to take a picture of the machine.

More review to follow.

Review continued

Entertainment. The singers and dancer shows we have seen a number of times so we did not go to those.

Chris Michaels—Multi-instrumental performer, with comedy. We have seen him before and he was still good.

Jon Stetson—Master Mentalist. We did not go to his shows.

Natalie Toro—Broadway singer and performer. Good show.

Amy Lee—Young Violin soloist. Excellent performer. We enjoyed her very much.

Island Magic—4 person Trinidad steel drum band. Outstanding and we enjoyed them very much. They put on a number of performances and a Q&A session. They got many standing ovations. They were around the ship during the day and were friendly and easy to talk to.

Kevin Jordon-Comedian. Former LA police officer. Good comedy and we enjoyed him.

Synergy—Twin brothers who played electric violins. Good performances.

Mike Robinson—Ventriloquist and comedian. We have seen him before years ago, good performance.

Juan Pablo-Latin American pianist. We did not see his primary performance

James was in the piano bar but we did not visit that venue.

BB King group was good but we just listened to them a couple of times while walking by the Queens Lounge. The venue is a little loud for us but each time we looked in they were well attended.

Island Magic

BB King band

Food. Noted, this is a subjective area. We had “As you wish dining” in the main dining room but were able to reserve a specific table each night. We read RetiredMustang’s live CC blog from the cruise right before ours and noted a trend toward spicier foods. Joyce is allergic to some spices so the dining room staffs were able to provide the next evening’s menu so she was able to adjust her food choices. HAL was very accommodating with these adjustments and it made dining very easy and enjoyable.

Now to the subject of sandwiches in the Lido. On our cruise there was only premade sandwiches. Most of which I and my wife did not like. I did find a sandwich one day that came close to my liking but had to pull out one of the ingredients I did not like and throw it away.

The rest of the food in the Lido was very good and we had no trouble finding something that appealed to our tastes. Also in both the MDR and the Lido we noticed an improvement in the quality, variety and taste of the desserts when compared to prior cruises. Not only did they look good but tasted good also. Now, to a pet peeve of mine….the ice cream selection still lacks imagination. Vanilla, chocolate and strawberry most days. About every third day or so a different variety would show up. Rum raison (yuck), mint chocolate chip and rocky road. I remember on earlier cruises there would be quite an assortment of ice creams from one day to the next. Always looked forward to lunch to see what flavors would show up……not now. I did check both sides of the Lido but found the same selection.

Snickers cake...yum!

Review to continue.

Well we are unpacked and back to reality from our 21 day B2B Collectors’ Caribbean cruise on the Oosterdam. We boarded on 2-19-16 for the first 10 day segment of the two segment cruise. We flew into FLL a day before the cruise and stayed at a motel close to the airport that had both shuttle pickup from the airport but also shuttle to the port on the 19th.

We left for the port at 10:00am and dropped off our 2 suitcases, 2 carry-ons and walked inside the terminal where there were no lines. We immediately got our pictures taken and got our paper work along with a number for boarding. We boarded around 11:45 and did not wait in any lines after our number was called. It was a real nice process for embarkation. Our cabin was available and we dropped off a few items and proceeded to the 2nd floor dining room were we wanted to locate a table to reserve for dinner. We went back to midship near the Pinnacle dining room and reserved a table for a 5:30 seating. We also reserved a dining time for diner at the Pinnacle for a future date. We then proceeded to the Lido for lunch which was not real crowded. We did not drop by the main dining room but verified with others that the main dining room was open for embarkation lunch only on the 2-29-16 embarkation day. No reason why it was not opened on that day the 19th or prior to that.

Condition of the ship. We have never cruised on a newer HAL ship so we have no basis to compare older ships but we were very happy that the condition of the ship was better than we had anticipated since the Oosterdam is headed to Palermo Italy for dry dock on 4-4-16. There were some carpets in public areas that were showing some wear but that did not bother us. We saw staff cleaning all the time, hand rails, carpets and public restrooms. There was a Noro Virus outbreak in the weeks prior to us getting on board but the deep cleaning in FLL worked. Our cabin, an obstructed view, was clean and in very good condition. The bed, as usual, provided comfortable nights of sleep.

Oosterdam at Grand Turk

Staff. What can I say about the Oosterdam staff……they were the best. Smiles as you passed them in the hall. Our room stewards, Katutu & Herman were great, always willing to provide anything we needed. The room was always kept clean and towel animals provided nightly. We had the unexpected fortune to run into Julie who was on the Zuiderdam last year on our Med. cruise but was now on the Oosterdam. She provided unbelievable support last year when we got the untimely news that Joyce’s mother had passed away back in Oregon. Julie provided us complimentary phone calls back home and looked after us after that troubled news. We were so lucky to see her again and be given the chance to properly thank her for all her help and caring last year. It made our day and cruise.

Katutu & Herman

Julie

Cooks in the Lido, all smiles.

More review to follow.:)

I just noticed another thread on this subject..."Half Moon Cay - Trying again". Here is the link to it: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2316612

CruiserBuce is entirely correct, what happened for landing in the past will be NO indication for what will happen on your cruise to HMC.

We stopped at HMC on 2-20-16 and 3-10-16 on the Oosterdam. On the 20th we were sharing the island with the Niew Amsterdam and it made it more crowded. There was a little wind but we had no problem in getting to shore. We had to use the Oosterdams tenders since the Niew Amsterdam was using the larger island tenders.

On March the 10th we had a fair amount of wind and I was wondering if we would be landing. However, the captain was able to position the ship with thursters so the port side was sheltered from the wind for tendering to shore. We were the only ship there so we were able to use the larger island tenders. But due to the heavy winds all excursions were canceled because the staff that ran the excursion and lived on other local islands could not get to HMC.

So it will be a toss of the dice as to wheather you will land at HMC or not. But I think the odds will be pretty good for you. We have sailed there 4 times and gotten ashore 4 times. Pretty good odds for us. But I have heard a number of times here on the CC board of those that could not land. Good luck.

Just returned from twenty one days on the Oosterdam. Had a great cruise, couple of minor blips but all in all a fantastic trip. Ship seemed to be a very happy ship with smiles and greetings everywhere. Good to see it will be going into drydock soon a few things that are showing some wear but nothing to deter from the cruise. Anything that I have not mentioned you can assume we were quite happy with. Now to Gala night before our cruise I had read that a lot of men were going with the new format. I did not bring a suit this time decided to go with shirt and tie. From what I observed on Gala nights evidently quite a few men did not get the memo about a more relaxed code. Suits well outnumbered shirts and ties. Myself I believe I will continue to just pack my tie. For those traditionalists good for, you did add a touch of class to the dining room. To dress or not the most important thing cruise as often as you can for life can be entirely to short.

We were on the same cruise with you. We wore the normal formal attire, with me in a suit and my wife in a formal short length dress. We saw fewer tuxes and fewer full length dress for the women than previous cruises. There were a lot more sport jackets and jackets worn without ties and those with shirt and ties only. We also saw numerous people seated that did not even meet the minimum Gala Night dress code. However that did not deter us from having very nice evenings in the MD along with a great cruise. Staff were great, friendly, and the ship was in good condition, better than I expected. Yes, there are things that need be addressed in dry dock, but nothing that deterred us from having a great cruise, it was a fun cruise.

We had some what of the same thing happen to us on our cruise on he Oosterdam last week but not to the extent of your food allergies.

We had the chance to review the MD menus thru another cruise critic member who was on the cruise before us. We noticed that the menus are trending toward more spicy seasonings than we have experienced on past cruises. My wife is allergic to pepper(s) and sage along with all hot spices. At our first MD dinner we were given the next evenings menu and Joyce was able to adjust the menu to accommodate her allergies. The waiters handled this like it was no big deal which made it very easy for us. We were very pleased about how they handled it which makes us like HAL even more.

This thing with the pre-made sandwiches is odd. In Feb, Oosterdam had pre-made sandwiches on baguettes, but they also had a made-to-order station. And now a month later, they don't. I wonder if they're experimenting to see how many complaints they get when the only option is premade. Or maybe the made-to-order station has shorter hours, and when that's done there are only premades? Or maybe the station is on only one side and OP didn't see it? I know that pizza at lunch is on only one side. I never could find it, but DH went right to it every day!

We were on the Oosterdam from 2-19-16 thru 3-11-16. Our MD table mates were on the cruise since 1-8-16 and they said there was a made to order sandwich station and some premade sandwiches when they got on. But by our cruise there was only premade sandwiches. I looked all over the Lido and did not find a made to order sandwich station. The premade sandwiches that were available had items in the sandwiches that we did not like or could not eat. I was able to find ONE sandwich one day that I could eat but had to remove an item from it. We will make note of this with our survey also.

I am going to follow up with a short review of our 21 day cruise with some pics and interesting things we noticed..

Dave,

Thanks again for providing information on this same cruise that we will be taking on the 19th. Great pictures and your scanner worked well on the Daily programs, nice. Joyce cut and pasted your typed menus and will compare those to our cruise to see how many are duplicated. It will interesting to see. We defiantly see more use of hot spicy foods that we are not real fond of.

Are you still planning on coming out west to be closer to your sons now that you are retired?

Sorry that we will pass and miss you and Cathy on the dock Friday.

Have a safe trip home.

Rick & Joyce

Wednesday, February 17, At Sea (Cont.)

 

 

Sorry everyone, but I basically checked out today. I remember a meal or two … I remember (sort of) a nap … I remember long periods spent on the balcony with DW, talking and staring at the sapphire water and watching flying fish fly, and birds swoop and dive. And then I remember waking up. In short, we didn’t do very much at all except relax … but it was a day to remember.

 

 

We did remember to shower and dress for Gala dinner in time to have a drink in the Sports Bar beforehand. Tonight’s menu was very much like the last Gala night from the previous cruise.

 

 

Before we got our meals, we were presented with an amuse bouche (French for “sippy cup”), which consisted of what the waiter said was watermelon gazpacho in a shot glass. I took one taste, and it was the flavor of bell pepper. No matter what else is in a dish, if it has bell pepper, it tastes only of bell pepper. What kind of chef would try to marry sweet fruity watermelon with bell pepper? Probably the same kind who would think it is a keen idea to completely destroy the delicate flavor of mozzarella di bufala by dumping balsamic vinegar on it.

 

 

Rant over. Here is the Gala Night dinner and dessert menu:

More later,

Dave

Based on the menus you posted with all the spices and balsamic vinegar not sure we are too interested in the food. I feel your "pain" above. We are at the airport in Portland ready to fly out. Too bad we will pass each other on Friday....:(

Rick & Joyce

Dave,

Was the "cab" you got at Crown Point those "Dollar" cabs where you sit on seats in the back with multiple people that drive over to Havensight? Are they easy to locate at both ends. We are wanting to do exactly what you did in St. Thomas. Can you pick them up on the water front near the main part of town that is half way between Crown Point and Havensight?

Sounds like you are out of the Noro Virus on the second portion of this cruise?

Rick

No, I have no idea. Let's face it, Rick, until a couple of weeks ago I reported to work at 6 a.m. -- I'm not aware of much of anything past 8:30 or 9. :D

 

Dave

That's funny! :D

Naps help, so one can stay up later. ;)

We stop in there from time to time to see what different items they may have cooked. We cross checked other things going on around 10:30 and could not figure it out.

Thanks.

Rick

Dave,

On Feb. 11th St. Maarten, the late night snack in the Lido was scheduled for 11:30pm instead of the normal 10:30pm time. Do you have any idea why they changed it to the later time?

Rick

Boy..still in Code Red, not good. If it doesn't improve in a week (since we board on the 19th) I hope you and Cathy can grab some rubber gloves and a bucket of Clorox and start scrubbing???? ;) :p

Rick

Thought I'd post a picture of the Oosterdam as it sailed out of Ft. Lauderdale this evening the 8th.

Did you get to hold the gator (small) on your excursion?

Thanks again Dave for all the information you have posted.

Rick

Darn no camera zoom- ins. But probably would not get any decent shots. Had some friends on the upper deck I wanted to get a screen snip of.

Has she left fll now?

She's on her way out right now.

Heading toward the channel now.

And clean I hope!