NWvacationer

We boarded last Monday as well - embarkation was a zoo. Three and a half hours after leaving our room at the Pan Pacific we finally made it to our cabin. By far the longest and most unorganized embarkation in 30 cruises - I think this was our fifth out of Vancouver.

That being said, the rest of the trip five day trip was wonderful - in my opinion. We ate most of our meals in the Lido and only found lines to be a little long a few times. We didn’t wait for elevators even though the ship was full. 
 

We are staying on for the next trip and we’re a little nervous about having to go through the customs check again - we left the ship about 9:45 this morning and we’re back on in under an hour. We are currently on our verandah watching everyone come onboard - hoping the lines move a little smoother for them today. 
 

So far, we have had a wonderful time! Happy to try and answer any questions over the next week. The ship seems to be in great shape after the recent dry dock. Cheers!🛳🍾

On 9/11/2020 at 11:48 AM, grsnovi said:

As I sit here in Oregon looking at the dense smoke outside (and smelling it in the house) I'm thankful that my house hasn't been burned down. I was supposed to have a procedure today that was cancelled due to the fires. I've been trying to have that done for 9 months. We had a 9-day cross country trip planned for April that was yanked out from under us. I haven't even been to the grocery store since March. So, do I miss cruising? You bet! Luckily our last one included all the kids and grand kids and even the scrapbook for that one is done.

I am right there with you! I have been dreaming about another cruise all day, as I stare out my window praying for everyone in the path of the Oregon fires. First time in a Level 2 evacuation situation. What I wouldn’t give to be cruising in Alaska right now! 

What a year this has been - stay safe everyone and hopefully we will all be cruising again soon!

Our Pacific Coastal scheduled for 4/25 was cancelled by HAL on 3/30. Same day we contacted our TA who requested a refund. Full refund hit my credit card today including the $100 deposit we had paid many months earlier. Was able to get credits previously for airfare, so we are whole again.

Took awhile, but we finally got it. It has given me hope to see the refund updates, so thought I would add our experience. Can’t wait till we can sail again. Hope all of you are staying well.

Paula

We do this cruise yearly - love it! Have only had mildly rough seas a time or two - it didn’t cause any issue for us. 
 

Astoria - charming little community - some great seafood and breweries. I am probably biased - we plan to retire to that area in the next few years! Was just my mom and I a few years ago - my husband drove to Astoria to spend the day with us! No troubles crossing the bar for us. It can be terrible to cross in a small pleasure craft. The bar pilots are amazing and keep a pretty tight reign on who crosses and when. Never had any trouble.
 

Photo attached was taken by my hubby as we sailed out of Astoria. 

We were onboard NA, on our aft balcony on deck 5 watching as the Oosterdam maneuvered into place. We kept telling each other “there is no way she isn’t going to hit us” - then she hit us. Was quite a jolt - thankfully it doesn’t seem anyone was injured. 

Looking forward to following along with you once again!!! We will be joining you for the “glacier” portion of your cruise. Safe travels and we will see you in Seattle tomorrow!!

We are on the Amsterdam Pacific Coastal leaving San Diego on May 16th. We received notification from our TA today that our stop in Santa Barbara has been cancelled and we will now stop in San Francisco.

Message from HAL reads: This is to advise that due to unforeseen repairs to the ship's tender platform, we must regrettably make the following change to our published itinerary...then on to tell us about San Francisco. We are very excited about the change!

Beautiful day for those on the Oosterdam! Sunny and 72 degrees in Astoria today!

PG staff for us too...no sneeze guard. :)

We had pastries, raisin buns, croissants, donuts, etc. I don't believe there were English muffins, bread to toast, etc. I also don't recall a toaster on my last two Oosterdam trips, but could certainly be mistaken. No toaster on the Westerdam this trip that I saw.

We were not under Code Red and there was no explanation why it was being handled differently than other ships, but we were not lacking anything that was available on previous sailings on other ships.

Yes, they had all of the items you mention! Yummy! I had read so much on the boards about this issue that I was really skeptical about the Neptune on this ship. It is something that I have really enjoyed about previous cruises and I too feel that the standard should be the same fleet wide, so I was pleasantly surprised!!

To be perfectly honest, we found it a plus to have that extra pair of hands available to help us maneuvering plates, coffee,etc. I really thought it might be a hinderance to not be able to self serve, but we actually preferred it! (And the chocolate covered strawberries were the BEST!)

Just back from the Westerdam, sailed 5/24 in a Neptune Suite. The Neptune lounge had everything we had had previously on the Oosterdam; they did have an attendant the entire cruise that served the items that were on the sideboard on the Oosterdam. Everything was right in plain view, just told her what we wanted and she put it on a plate for us. All the same food items we had previously! The Neptune team was wonderful as usual.

Let me know if you have any questions and I will try to answer!