Oosterdam (Almost) Live, our Holiday cruise.

[cruz chic]

Thx for the update. I'm enjoying it.

[DaveOKC]

Exactly the same on the Amsterdam in September. I don't read those letters anymore since they had in the past. anyway, all been the same. When I asked the Concierge the next morning about the Suite Welcome party, I was told in a very nasty tone that "Yes, you did receive an invitation, it was at the bottom of the letter." Not a pleasant welcome.

 

Priority luggage has never come early for us and there was no Captain's cocktail party.

 

The new norm.

 

When I mentioned the letter about the suite party to the Beverage Manager the next day, he informed me that the information was supposed to have been removed! I did not expect that response.

[sail7seas]

Thanks so much for your thread. Please wish you DH a Belated Happy Birthday. I would have loved to there with you for his Birthday dinner. :)

 

If you have the opportunity, would you check about salads at lunch? I'd be so disappointed to hear there is no longer a way to have salad bar style even if they have taken away the opportunity to make our own.

 

Have fun. Enjoy.

 

[DaveOKC]

Thanks so much for your thread. Please wish you DH a Belated Happy Birthday. I would have loved to there with you for his Birthday dinner. :)

 

If you have the opportunity, would you check about salads at lunch? I'd be so disappointed to hear there is no longer a way to have salad bar style even if they have taken away the opportunity to make our own.

 

We were on the Oosterdam for the past 11 day cruise and my DW had a salad for lunch almost everyday. Her comments on this:

 

I was always able to make my own, starting from day 1. There was the choice of spring mix, spinach, or romaine - no iceberg. All kinds of add ons - beans, shredded carrots, beets,or cucumbers,onions, shredded cheese just to name a few. There were also some pre-made concoctions and cut up fruits and cheeses. Any other questions?

[cruz chic]

We were on the Oosterdam for the past 11 day cruise and my DW had a salad for lunch almost everyday. Her comments on this:

 

I was always able to make my own, starting from day 1. There was the choice of spring mix, spinach, or romaine - no iceberg. All kinds of add ons - beans, shredded carrots, beets,or cucumbers,onions, shredded cheese just to name a few. There were also some pre-made concoctions and cut up fruits and cheeses. Any other questions?

 

It was the same on the eurodam but it sounds like things are changing. My cruise was in October. They had premades sandwiches on the eurodam. Other ships don't. I really wish Hal would quit messing with these things. That said its not a deal breaker for me. There are much bigger issues than that.

[sail7seas]

We were on the Oosterdam for the past 11 day cruise and my DW had a salad for lunch almost everyday. Her comments on this:

 

I was always able to make my own, starting from day 1. There was the choice of spring mix, spinach, or romaine - no iceberg. All kinds of add ons - beans, shredded carrots, beets,or cucumbers,onions, shredded cheese just to name a few. There were also some pre-made concoctions and cut up fruits and cheeses. Any other questions?

 

Thanks for this post. I hope it remains that way. I enjoy the salad bar in Lido more than most anything else at lunch. Hope HAL leaves it the way it has been for years.

 

[WeLoveCruising]

Day 2 Half Moon Cay

 

We were thrilled to be able to make it to HMC. We had a few prior visits cancelled because of unsafe tendering. We woke up to a mostly sunny and warm day, and were looking forward to our pink cabana #8. Since we’re staying in a Neptune Suite, we’re entitled to breakfast in the Pinnacle, but it’s not something we always do. Let me explain why. We really like the Pinnacle, it’s a much more relaxing and upscale way to have breakfast, but what I like about the Lido is that I can have a “little of this and a little of that”. For example, I like the Swiss museli, but only a few spoonfulls, because I also get an over medium egg, and wheat toast toasted twice…you get the idea. Basically what I am trying to explain is that I can be a picky pain in the @$@. Just kidding….but what I mean is that at the Lido I can pick and choose small portions of what I want. If I were to order those things in the Pinnacle, which I certainly could, I would get full size dishes of each and end up with a table of food. Since both venues for breakfasts (as well as out on our balcony) appeal to us, we mix it up. We definitely do the Pinnacle on sea days, when the Lido is crowded, and other times we make a last minute decision. And by last minute decision I mean I always vote Lido, DH always votes Pinnacle, and we just see who wins at the time, ☺

 

Tendering started pretty early, shortly after 8am, so we made our way to Deck A. The last time I was at HMC was December 2011. The pirate monstrosity…err..ship…was there then, but not the two story cabanas. I noticed right away that the beach looks different, and had a different feel. It’s not one thing or another, it’s a multitude of things they built up over the years. While it’s absolutely still enjoyable, it’s just not the same to me as it once was. I miss the days when it was more of a private beach feel, less built up. Our cabana had one of the two story family ones next to it. I read on here that some people didn’t like them because they disrupted the view. It didn’t affect our view at all, but what it did add was that the large group in it was loud. They were throwing around footballs, laughing….well, I guess they were just doing what large groups do, but I found that I wanted to put on my headphones so I didn’t have to listen to them. Truth be told, if I were traveling with a group I would want one and be having just as much fun…but it made me think that HAL is maybe trying to make HMC too many things to all people. It cant be a party place, a family place, a relaxing place, all jumbled together. The island is big enough, maybe they could make different ambiances….but I don’t think they will. DH and I decided that if that were our first time ever to HMC, we would have thought it was amazing and loved it, but as it was we, knowing what it once was, were a bit sad to see what our favorite little slice of paradise has become.

 

Storms started rolling in after lunch, and there was a big exodus to the tender. I noticed that they added a few bars at the exit, as well as a metal detector and a big Disney-style holding area for tender boarding. Once on the tender, a group of us noticed a guy being taken away in handcuffs by Bahamian police. These weren’t security guards, they had police uniforms and looked quite serious. I wasn’t sure who the guy was, but other passengers recognized him from the ship. I don’t know what he could have done on the island to get in that much trouble, he was clearly under arrest and being led by two policemen into a little building. (Copper, if you are reading this maybe you can tell us how security works on the island?). Of course we all speculated…did he get into a fight? Did he have drugs on the island? I don’t know what he could have done.

 

Because we have late (main) dining, we enjoy a late afternoon snack to hold us over. For DH this always means a plate of pasta, so around 4:30pm we went to the Lido for that. I usually make a taco salad at the taco bar. I noticed right away that has been upgraded. There are now new salsas like mango salsa, corn salsa, and a pineapple jalapeno salsa. Also the ground beef has been replaced with shredded beef. We enjoyed our snack and went to nap.

 

It was a gala night, and most of the ship was dressed formally. It might be just me, but we actually found the food to be improved over a few prior cruises. I had the surf and turf, and while the filet will never be mistaken for a Ruth Chris one, it was ok. DH had lamb and really enjoyed it. We have a table for 2, but it’s very close to a 4 top. I’ll give you a story about perspective on something. We noticed a soup on the menu last night, an Asian style chicken and soba noodle soup, which we both ordered. We thought it was delicious. IMHO HAL does a great job with Asian food. In fact DH and I raved about it. I said I’d be happy with it as an entrée. DH said it was the most flavored soup he’s had onboard and really liked it. A few minutes later, every person at the table next to us sent theirs back, saying it was too spicy. And this was a middle aged couple and their young adult children, so no real stereotype saying HAL caters to seniors who like bland food. We were older than all of them and loved it, they all found it inedible. It made me think about some of the reviews here and how subjective they can be.

 

We were too full to finish our bottle of wine, and really like the fact that they’ll hold it for us until the next night. We made a quick few laps around the Promenade, and called it a night.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I agree about HMC and having changed so much over the years. We liked it when it was a plain, peaceful island. Since Carnival uses the island as well and all through the summer, guess they feel that more things were needed for all age groups.

In October on our first cruise, 2 women got into a fight in the Pirates Bar -- I don't know what happened to them.

[WeLoveCruising]

For those of you who asked, no worries at all about salad in the Lido. As I said, on the first day I didn't look too hard for it, I just didn't see it where I was used to looking.

 

Today I saw the salad station, both sides of the Lido. As I think about it, on the first day I went directly to the middle area, where the drinks are, looking for the salad bar there. It occurs to me I think it was a long time ago it used to be there, perhaps even on the S class ships and not the Vistas. I wasn't really looking for it specifically, so was happy with what I found and didn't think about it again until I realized I caused a few people here to wonder if it was indeed gone. Nope, I had a big salad today, lots of selections…baby spinach, Romaine, lots of shredded and diced veggie toppings, as well as proteins such as ham, hard boiled eggs, cheeses, etc.

 

Just started pouring down here in Grand Turk :(

[WeLoveCruising]

Thanks so much for your thread. Please wish you DH a Belated Happy Birthday. I would have loved to there with you for his Birthday dinner. :)

 

If you have the opportunity, would you check about salads at lunch? I'd be so disappointed to hear there is no longer a way to have salad bar style even if they have taken away the opportunity to make our own.

 

Have fun. Enjoy.

 

 

I hope we all have many more birthdays and a chance to share them on a Dam ship :). DH says hello….he's sitting right next to me as I'm typing.

[sppunk]

For those of you who asked, no worries at all about salad in the Lido. As I said, on the first day I didn't look too hard for it, I just didn't see it where I was used to looking.

 

Today I saw the salad station, both sides of the Lido. As I think about it, on the first day I went directly to the middle area, where the drinks are, looking for the salad bar there. It occurs to me I think it was a long time ago it used to be there, perhaps even on the S class ships and not the Vistas. I wasn't really looking for it specifically, so was happy with what I found and didn't think about it again until I realized I caused a few people here to wonder if it was indeed gone. Nope, I had a big salad today, lots of selections…baby spinach, Romaine, lots of shredded and diced veggie toppings, as well as proteins such as ham, hard boiled eggs, cheeses, etc.

 

Just started pouring down here in Grand Turk :(

:exhales: thank you!

 

Have a wonderful remaining trip!

[janmcn]

Thanks for this review! We'll be on in Feb.

 

FYI...unless things have changed massively...they just "added" the pre-made sandwiches to the Lido on ships...you still will find all the made-to-order ones further down the line...DH and I always have sandwiches for lunch...so the last 3 cruises this year all had both pre-made (more like subs for convenience...if folks want to quickly grab and go) as well as the sandwich area. (I'm addicted to their egg salad)...

 

I HAVE found that you often may find little extra stations on the other side of the Lido...so always wander the full circle.

[RuthC]

...you still will find all the made-to-order ones further down the line...

As ships are going through dry dock, the made-to-order sandwich stations are being eliminated. You can still find some ingredients for some types of sandwiches, but there is no sandwich bread, or sandwich rolls, out. You can ask for them when the main lunch line is open, but getting the breads later is another matter.

 

I found that bringing a plastic sandwich bag with me at breakfast, and getting bread then for later, worked well.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Have a great time. .

[scm1848]

You have described my feelings exactly about why we never have breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill, despite several cruises in Neptune Suites and the PS. For many people, it is one of the main reasons to book a NS or PS. Like you, I love to "graze" through several small portions.

 

Thanks for your review so far.

[ozcruizer]

Thanks for this post. I hope it remains that way. I enjoy the salad bar in Lido more than most anything else at lunch. Hope HAL leaves it the way it has been for years.

 

On the Noordam a couple of months ago, I found plenty of salad makings - tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber etc but hardly anything in the way of pre-made salads which I enjoy. It was disappointing. Also, the Bircher muesli, rather than being in one of those long trays, was served in small glasses which did not seem to make much sense.

 

Ozcruizer

[WeLoveCruising]

Thanks for this post. I hope it remains that way. I enjoy the salad bar in Lido more than most anything else at lunch. Hope HAL leaves it the way it has been for years.

 

On the Noordam a couple of months ago, I found plenty of salad makings - tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber etc but hardly anything in the way of pre-made salads which I enjoy. It was disappointing. Also, the Bircher muesli, rather than being in one of those long trays, was served in small glasses which did not seem to make much sense.

 

Ozcruizer

 

Our museli is in a long tray. It seems the ships aren't all consistent. I agree with you, I love that stuff.

 

I found lots of pre-made salads, in the area where I went looking for the salad bar on Day 1. Yesterday I had a delicious salad at the Asian station, it was a cold pork salad with lots of flavorful peppers, onions, etc. in a sesame garlic dressing.

[WeLoveCruising]

Day 3: Grand Turk

 

We woke up a bit late today because of the time change, so barely made it to the Lido to grab some breakfast before they stopped serving at 10am. We noticed more stewards than we can recall, serving coffee and juice to your table. The Lido was busy, but someone offered to carry my plate, and when I got to the table, DH was there being served two cups of coffee for us.

 

We spent most of the morning in the Thermal Suite. Two of the three steam rooms had the scent added, I don’t know why they let it run out, I think it makes a big difference. All of the lounge seats were taken, so we went to the hydropool area for awhile. When we went back to the thermal suite, we had it to ourselves for the rest of the time – but that coincided to arriving in Grand Turk at noon, so I’m sure that’s why. We were having a good time in the spa, so made a last minute decision to book a couples massage. They had a slot open at 2pm, so it was perfect for us to grab a late lunch and come back for our massage.

 

The massage was very relaxing. We were prepared for the sales pitch at the end, and politely declined and weren’t pressured. The spa services are 10/20/30, meaning 10% off a first treatment, 20% off a second, etc. The next massage at 20% off will be tempting. I know there are also all kinds of port day specials to come as the cruise goes on.

 

Most of the time in the Caribbean, we barely get off the ship, and if we do it’s not for too long. There are certain places I really like to go to – for example St John, but other than that, we’ve been so many times that my opinion is the sun and the weather are the same on the back of the ship as in port – plus I have lunch, showers and clean bathrooms right here on board. That’s the way I feel about the Caribbean, but we’ve been sailing here for over 20 years and have been to each island so many times. In Europe, I am the opposite – usually the first off the ship and one of the last back on. It just depends on where we are sailing. But for those reasons, we stayed onboard in Grand Turk and will likely do so for the better part of this cruise.

 

We had dinner in Canaletto last night. It was better than we had both remembered. The portion sizes were huge – even when we were told we had the ½ size meant for individuals. I had the zuppa de pesce and DH had the clams as the small plate starters. Both were good, but we preferred his. The clams were in a garlicky broth with sausage, very flavorful. We shared the gnocchi and short ribs as a pasta dish. We both wish there were more gnocchi, less short ribs, although we enjoyed it. There were three large short ribs and we each couldn’t finish one. For our secondi course we each had the pork saltimbocca and the chicken caccitore. The chicken was all dark meat which I don’t like, but at that point I was so stuffed it didn’t matter. I did enjoy some of the polenta and carrots it came with. DH had a walnut torte for dessert, which I skipped.

 

After dinner we did our usual walk around the promenade, but it had just rained so we kept it to a few laps to work off some dinner. BB King Band wasn’t playing last night, so we called it a (relatively) early night and went to bed.

 

I’m typing this early morning as we are arriving in Samana. Last time we were here, we were with my son and his best friend, to celebrate college graduation. We all did a private tour, renting ATV’s and going to a beach and waterfall. It was one of those special lifetime memories I will always have. We have mixed feelings of being here, we’re blessed with so many memories, but feel the loss of our son so much more painfully on days like this. This wont be an easy day for us.

[albingirl]

Sincere sympathy on the loss of your beloved son. I am enjoying your review, however, and wish you a wonderful cruise in spite of your heartache.

[WeLoveCruising]

Sincere sympathy on the loss of your beloved son. I am enjoying your review, however, and wish you a wonderful cruise in spite of your heartache.

 

Thanks, I really appreciate you saying that.

[WeLoveCruising]

Just a quick check in….

 

The weather hasn't been the greatest these last few days. Earlier today they suspended tender service to Samana due to rough seas, but they were able to start it up again shortly after. We spent a lot of time at the aft pool trying to get some sun, but there wasn't much to be found. Just came inside because it started to rain.

 

Right now we are enjoying a cappuccino in the Neptune Lounge, and will probably take a nap. There is a comedian / juggler tonight, so we plan to see that show and follow up with some of the BB King band which plays at 11pm. My goal is to see if I can get DH out on the dance floor, which will require a bit of alcohol ;). We didn't' finish our bottle of wine from Canaletto last night, so we'll start by picking that back in the the MDR tonight.

[WeLoveCruising]

Day 4: Samana, Dominican Republic

 

We had breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill today, and I have to concede that DH might have a better idea in going to the Pinnacle. We really enjoyed the peace and quiet, as well as food and service. I had an omelet, while he had a traditional American breakfast. Freshly squeezed OJ was available. After breakfast we made our way to the Thermal Suite for some relaxing. We arrived to have it to ourselves, but as we started to notice others looking for chairs, we gave ours up (the sign says to limit yourself to 15 minutes if others are waiting.

 

Lunch was the Asian station, followed by some aft pool time (I’m starting to feel like all I do in this review is write about food. I promise we do other things!). Both DH and I work in careers that cause us to do overnight travel, so when we have vacation we truly enjoy downtime. Sitting down with our Kindles is all we need, and what we most look forward to. I hope we don’t sound too boring!

 

We had some confusion today. We have reservations at the Pinnacle for Thursday night, and noticed a reservation card in our inbox for Tuesday night. Hmmmm…Was this an error on our Thursday reservation? Was it some new invite to something? I know I didn’t make that reservation, at least intentionally…so we went to the concierge to ask about it. He could only say it was made the day before. Lots of phone calls were made, only to determine someone had made it for us, and treated us to it…..that is wonderful! But I don’t know who to thank! Oh well, we will show up tonight and see if there are any clues to the mystery. (FWIW, we didn’t book through a travel agent, so it’s not that).

 

For the first time in (forever?), we are actually considering purchasing some of our onboard photos. I have no idea what the prices used to be, but there are packages of unlimited candid shots, unlimited posed photos (like on formal night) shots, or both. We think a few of ours came out really well and would like to have them. Since we haven’t been getting off the ship in the ports, though, our “candids” are rather limited, so I don’t know if it is entirely worth it. I might check the individual photo prices. Also, FWIW, I noticed a few people trying to take photos of their photos with their cell phones, and each time one of the photography staff runs over to tell them that’s not allowed.

 

 

We had another enjoyable dinner in the MDR. Service is still quite slow, but when we’re on vacation we never mind, we see dinner as an enjoyable event, and like to linger over a few drinks, dessert, etc. My DH had a parmesean crusted veal for his main entrée, and I had the Caribbean pot roast. We liked them both. I noticed that the portion size for appetizers are pretty small, which I like, and the entrees seem huge by comparison. I prefer to graze, and many small plates of different things, so the appetizer sizes work well for me.

 

We went to the show last night, which was a typical cruise juggler. This guy juggled knives and cracked whips. While not the best show we ever saw, he was certainly entertaining and a fun way to spend an hour or so after dinner. The seas have been rough, and we were feeling queasy when we went to bed.

 

I’m typing this up on the start of our first sea day, as we make our way to Bonaire. The weather looks like it can go either way, it’s a mix of sun and clouds out there, so we will see what the day brings for us.

Edited December 22, 2015 by WeLoveCruising

[cruz chic]

Thanks for the update. Enjoy your day!

[cruisencrazy]

Day 4: Samana, Dominican Republic

 

We had breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill today, and I have to concede that DH might have a better idea in going to the Pinnacle. We really enjoyed the peace and quiet, as well as food and service. I had an omelet, while he had a traditional American breakfast. Freshly squeezed OJ was available. After breakfast we made our way to the Thermal Suite for some relaxing. We arrived to have it to ourselves, but as we started to notice others looking for chairs, we gave ours up (the sign says to limit yourself to 15 minutes if others are waiting.

 

Lunch was the Asian station, followed by some aft pool time (I’m starting to feel like all I do in this review is write about food. I promise we do other things!). Both DH and I work in careers that cause us to do overnight travel, so when we have vacation we truly enjoy downtime. Sitting down with our Kindles is all we need, and what we most look forward to. I hope we don’t sound too boring!

 

We had some confusion today. We have reservations at the Pinnacle for Thursday night, and noticed a reservation card in our inbox for Tuesday night. Hmmmm…Was this an error on our Thursday reservation? Was it some new invite to something? I know I didn’t make that reservation, at least intentionally…so we went to the concierge to ask about it. He could only say it was made the day before. Lots of phone calls were made, only to determine someone had made it for us, and treated us to it…..that is wonderful! But I don’t know who to thank! Oh well, we will show up tonight and see if there are any clues to the mystery. (FWIW, we didn’t book through a travel agent, so it’s not that).

 

For the first time in (forever?), we are actually considering purchasing some of our onboard photos. I have no idea what the prices used to be, but there are packages of unlimited candid shots, unlimited posed photos (like on formal night) shots, or both. We think a few of ours came out really well and would like to have them. Since we haven’t been getting off the ship in the ports, though, our “candids” are rather limited, so I don’t know if it is entirely worth it. I might check the individual photo prices. Also, FWIW, I noticed a few people trying to take photos of their photos with their cell phones, and each time one of the photography staff runs over to tell them that’s not allowed.

 

 

We had another enjoyable dinner in the MDR. Service is still quite slow, but when we’re on vacation we never mind, we see dinner as an enjoyable event, and like to linger over a few drinks, dessert, etc. My DH had a parmesean crusted veal for his main entrée, and I had the Caribbean pot roast. We liked them both. I noticed that the portion size for appetizers are pretty small, which I like, and the entrees seem huge by comparison. I prefer to graze, and many small plates of different things, so the appetizer sizes work well for me.

 

We went to the show last night, which was a typical cruise juggler. This guy juggled knives and cracked whips. While not the best show we ever saw, he was certainly entertaining and a fun way to spend an hour or so after dinner. The seas have been rough, and we were feeling queasy when we went to bed.

 

I’m typing this up on the start of our first sea day, as we make our way to Bonaire. The weather looks like it can go either way, it’s a mix of sun and clouds out there, so we will see what the day brings for us.

 

If you decide to go ashore in Bonaire, you will see a sign for the Plaza Bonaire as you get off the boat. For $10 pp they will take you to their "resort" and bring you back to the ship. It's nice there, with the best snorkeling in the Caribbean right off the beach (walk into the water, duck down and there it is). They have nice enough beach with hammocks, a restaurant, and lounges with bar service. They also have nice and clean faciltiies. It's one of our favorite stops. Enjoy. Love reading your posts, as we will board your ship Monday :)

[jimmy2x]

If you decide to go ashore in Bonaire, you will see a sign for the Plaza Bonaire as you get off the boat. For $10 pp they will take you to their "resort" and bring you back to the ship. It's nice there, with the best snorkeling in the Caribbean right off the beach (walk into the water, duck down and there it is). They have nice enough beach with hammocks, a restaurant, and lounges with bar service. They also have nice and clean faciltiies. It's one of our favorite stops. Enjoy. Love reading your posts, as we will board your ship Monday :)

 

Great tip! Thank you.