Oosterdam (Almost) Live, our Holiday cruise.

[iflyrc5]

We typically book an inside or outside window and never have a problem getting bar soap. In fact on the 35 day Voyage of the Vikings this past August our room stewards (inside cabin on the Veendam) gave us a new bar about every 3 or 4 days without even asking. We always try to meet our room stewards on the first day and very seldom have any issues. Looking forward to 42 days on the Oosterdam starting Jan 18 in one of the "large" inside cabins on Deck 1 (Main deck). Have not been in one of these "large" inside cabins before but it was recommended by the on board cruise consultant so we are giving it a try.

[cruz chic]

We typically book an inside or outside window and never have a problem getting bar soap. In fact on the 35 day Voyage of the Vikings this past August our room stewards (inside cabin on the Veendam) gave us a new bar about every 3 or 4 days without even asking. We always try to meet our room stewards on the first day and very seldom have any issues. Looking forward to 42 days on the Oosterdam starting Jan 18 in one of the "large" inside cabins on Deck 1 (Main deck). Have not been in one of these "large" inside cabins before but it was recommended by the on board cruise consultant so we are giving it a try.

 

I don't think anyone is complaining about getting one bar. I think people want two, one for the tub and one for the sink. It's not about meeting or being polite to the stewards, or it hasn't been in my case. I think stewards are likely to be more accommodating on longer cruises where folks tend to be more picky.

[WeLoveCruising]

Day 9: At Sea, Heading towards Fort Lauderdale

 

The ship always seems a bit busy on sea days, and this cruise has lots of kids. Not mobs of kids that would prevent me from booking another holiday cruise, but enough kids to fill the Lido pool with games and keep things busy.

 

We have really come to appreciate the Pinnacle breakfast. I had steel cut Irish oatmeal, with brown sugar and cream, and DH had his usual – Eggs Benedict. There are plenty of choices, and they will try to accommodate you even if you want something off the menu. Our days have started like this: Breakfast #1 in the Neptune Lounge, around 7am, which is a cup of coffee and some fruit or a small croissant, followed by Breakfast #2 around 9am in the Pinnacle.

 

The On Location guide had plenty to do for the sea day, but we chose the Aft Lido pool for some sun, music, and more reading. There is a live steel drum band out there, which aren’t the greatest, but I appreciate the live, tropical music. And speaking of live bands, the BB King bad plays to a crowded Queens Lounge almost every night. They do quick 45 minutes sets 3 times per night. They play covers of many popular Motown songs – lots of Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, Ray Charles, etc. I don’t know too much about blues music so when I heard the name BB King I wondered if I would know any of the music. Rest assured, they play a mix of very popular songs and get the crowd going. Last night they played requests only, including Ray Charles, Roberta Flack, the Jackson 5 and James Brown. The band is very popular, and deserves the praise and great reviews they get.

 

We decided to splurge for our photo package. We’ve been cruising for over 25 years, and the only professional photo we have of us is a photo on the Costa Victoria, in 1997, which is sitting on my nightstand, and a Key Chain with a photo of us in back of a life preserver that reads "Norway 1995"! I thought we’re due for an update! For the price of about 4 formal photos, you can get an unlimited package. Since we were considering the package, we stopped to have our photo taken anywhere we could. This is a completely new thing for us, we usually duck the photographers. But because we posed for so many, we have dozens and dozens of photos in our package. The price includes your choice of either all prints, or all digital…or for $40 more you can have both prints and digital for all your photos. The only problem with digital is they put them on a CD, and none of my computers have had CD drives in over 5 years. I asked about a USB thumb drive, and they will put them on that, but only if you provide it yourself, it’s brand new and still in its package (because of a risk of viruses). Do you think they sell USB drives onboard? No, of course not ☺

 

Our dining stewards seemed happy to have us back at our table, after a few nights away. DH had a chicken cassoulet for dinner, and I had fried shrimp. We noticed the family next to us complaining portions are too small, and the steward brought them additional entrees. The serving sizes are small – certainly smaller than you would get in a restaurant, but IMHO they are just right if you are eating multiple courses. I agree, if you came in and only had one or two courses, you would risk leaving hungry.

 

We’re always sad at the point in the cruise, we know it’s winding down and it will seem far too long before we can get away again. We booked some time with the onboard consultant for the next day, we plan to book another cruise before we leave. We are having a great time on this cruise, and it has done a lot to restore our faith in HAL. I’ll write more in a “Final Thoughts” type post on this thread once we’re home.

Edited December 27, 2015 by WeLoveCruising

[SilvertoGold]

I yapped about the 'soap situation' starting as far back as 2-3 years. It annoys me no end to have to ASK for a bar of soap. Ridiculous. Noro gets spread when people do not wash well with soap and water. That does not mean 'bath gel' and one has to lean over the side of tub ("R" and "S" class ships) to get from the dispenser. And no guest, let alone a Neptune Suite occupant, should have to provide their own bar of soap. For pete's sake, Motel 6 gives a bar of soap..... or so I've been told :D

 

 

Agree, agree, agree!

 

Since about 4 years ago, I have had to ask for an extra bar of soap on 2 out of 3 cruises.

 

I don't know what this is about, but one bar seems to be the norm and if I ask, some room stewards say, fine, and then "forget".

 

I get DH to ask them in Bahasa and there is no problem. Just have to persevere, but I think two small bars is not too much to ask, one for the sink, one for the shower. Sheesh!

 

On a TA we had one of the small bars, then they ran out of those (Elemis) and were reluctant to give out the alternative bars, "in case they ran out of those too".

That was a cruise where Norwalk made an appearance a few days before the end of that segment. Luckily they picked up boxes and boxes of Elemis soap in Rotterdam.

[WeLoveCruising]

I yapped about the 'soap situation' starting as far back as 2-3 years. It annoys me no end to have to ASK for a bar of soap. Ridiculous. Noro gets spread when people do not wash well with soap and water. That does not mean 'bath gel' and one has to lean over the side of tub ("R" and "S" class ships) to get from the dispenser. And no guest, let alone a Neptune Suite occupant, should have to provide their own bar of soap. For pete's sake, Motel 6 gives a bar of soap..... or so I've been told :D

 

 

Sail, I said the same thing about Noro. With all of the emphasis on hand washing, can they give out soap? It also seems to me that touching the soap pumps with your hand, after using the bathroom, isn't sanitary either.

 

I looked for bar soap in the gift shop, and there wasn't any. I'm glad people here have felt the same way about the liquid dispensers. The concierge and cabin stewards, as well as their supervisor, looked at me like I had two heads when I was trying to explain I wanted a solid bar of soap, not just the soap pump.

[WeLoveCruising]

Day 10 (Last day, at sea, heading towards Fort Lauderdale)

 

We were both sad that the cruise was ending. It used to feel that 7 nights wasn't long enough, now 10 nights leave us wanting more. I met a lady in the elevator who only cruises with 30-night minimums (including doing back to backs), and spends 9 months out of every year on a ship. She said she alternates HAL and Princess. What a way to retire!

 

Today we had the best weather of the entire cruise, about 80 degrees and not a cloud in the skies. Wanting to enjoy a last day in the sun, we scrapped our plans for the thermal suite after breakfast, and headed to the aft pool. I know we're not supposed to discuss smoking on threads other than the sticky thread designated for that. Since it impacts our days, I still think it's worthy of mentioning it here. As a non-smoker, I respect that those who do have the right to have someplace on the ship to do so, and I acknowledge that the areas where they can have grown smaller and smaller over the years. I just hate how the SeaView bar smoking impacts my enjoyment of what I think is one of the most prime spots on the ship, the aft section. And yes, even if you're to the aft of the pool I can smell it, and I dont like it one bit. I dont want to turn this into a smoking debate thread, and carefully thought about posting that sentiment. But it was so much a part of our experience on the aft deck, I would be leaving a big thing out not to mention it. So what would I propose? I dont know. But I dont think that a non-smoking section 10 open feet away from a smoking section makes for a true non-smoking section. I think if there were a more fair and reasonable solution that someone would have already implemented it.

 

Lunch was the Asian's station "Taste of Malaysia". Each day the Asian station featured a different region, some of the others inlcuding Korea, Vietnam, China, and Thailand. I think the Asian food on HAL is some of the best prepared onboard, and will default to that unless it's something I really dont want. DH had carved lamb.

 

We indulged in another 75-minute massage, our third each of the trip, which also entited us to the 10/20/30% discount which was retroactively applied to our others. I anticipated an accounting nightmare and a big lack of trust for them to correctly void and credit our past massages, but they did it all correctly. Having the same therapists each for all three massages, these ladies know our problem areas, and found every knot in our sore backs. They did a wonderful job.

 

The remainder of the day was spent wrapping up our onboard activities, checking our account, looking at all our photos, and organizing our things for packing.

 

Dinner was the last night Chef's special...I know they have some name for it which I dont recall. I know many people think it's the weakest menu night onboard. I had the prime rib, which was some of the best I recall in recent years. It was a large piece, very tender and cooked a perfect medium. I saw Baked Alaska on the menu for dessert, and expected the parade and singing servers, but that didnt happen. It's been a few years since I've sailed (and the last being still during the Master Chef thing), so I wasnt certain if they still do this. I like the Indoensian Farewell song and was hoping to hear it, but it didnt happen. I wondered if we waited longer, but saw many people leaving so we left ourselves. We do our laps on Deck 3 after dinner, and each time we passed the MDR we peeked in, wondering if we just missed it, but no, we didnt see anything like the parade of Baked Alaska, or the Indonesian Farewell song.

 

The show was Dancing with the Stars, where passengers compete. All of the shows that night were well attended, as if people were trying to capture whatever we can during the last few hours.

 

I'm home now, with a day of laundry and unpacking (yes, I know I could have had it done onboard, but we only send our basic T's and things out). I'll wrap up with disembarkation and some final thoughts a little later.

 

If you followed along, thanks!

[3rdGenCunarder]

Thank you for taking us along on your cruise. It has certainly built anticipation for my upcoming cruise on Oosterdam--just printed out my docs!

 

One question, what time was the early fixed dining? It seems to vary from 5:15 to 5:45, depending on the ship.

 

It sounds like this cruise turned out to be great therapy for both of you. I hope the cruise glow lingers, even when you're home and doing laundry.

[DaveOKC]

Thank you for taking us along on your cruise. It has certainly built anticipation for my upcoming cruise on Oosterdam--just printed out my docs!

 

One question, what time was the early fixed dining? It seems to vary from 5:15 to 5:45, depending on the ship.

 

It sounds like this cruise turned out to be great therapy for both of you. I hope the cruise glow lingers, even when you're home and doing laundry.

 

5:30 on the O two weeks ago.

[cruz chic]

I'm sorry your vacation is over. I enjoyed your thread. Thx for taking the time to do it.

[WeLoveCruising]

Thank you for taking us along on your cruise. It has certainly built anticipation for my upcoming cruise on Oosterdam--just printed out my docs!

 

One question, what time was the early fixed dining? It seems to vary from 5:15 to 5:45, depending on the ship.

 

It sounds like this cruise turned out to be great therapy for both of you. I hope the cruise glow lingers, even when you're home and doing laundry.

 

Thanks,

 

Early dining was 5:30, Main (late) was 8pm

 

I'm glad you'll get a chance to sail, we had a wonderful time.

[snookymom]

I thoroughly enjoyed your cruise review. The liquid soap was unappealing to me too & I have added bar soap to my packing list for our next cruise.

My deepest sympathy on the death of your son. Hopefully you were both able to thik about the wonderful times you had on past family cruses.

[canadianbear]

Really enjoyed reading your review-it is one of the cruises that I am hoping to take one day. You're a great writer and loved your details.

 

I am another one that does not like the liquid soap they provide and always take a bar of soap for the shower and sink area as well.

 

So glad you enjoyed the Neptune suite and lounge. Very convenient and a great place to grab a snack or cappuccino. We used to go to the suite cocktail parties but on our last cruise it was in the Neptune lounge so we didn't bother going after speaking with the concierge. I've never liked champagne cheap or expensive.

 

We found the Canaletto also had huge portions which pleased my husband. Although it was different than our previous cruise we found we quite enjoyed the experience and food.

 

It took my husband several cruises before he warmed up to having breakfast in the Pinnacle but now he seems quite content with it:) Like you said, it's a peaceful way to start the day.

 

I hope, like others, that this cruise helped you through such a difficult time in your life losing your son. Please accept our heartfelt condolences.

[ZSandy25]

First I would like to send my condolences to you and your husband. We too lost a loved one a few weeks before Christmas and the next Christmas decided to do a holiday cruise. It was a good decision and we really enjoyed the cruise.

Secondly, I enjoyed reading your posts. You have a nice writing style. We will be on the Oosterdam for 21 days in Feb. and going to many of the ports you sailed into. I have never done the walking tour of the art onboard but you can bet I will do it this Feb.

On our last cruise we always had small bars of soap provided, maybe things have changed. I don't mind the liquid soap in the shower but do like that bar to wash, wash, wash my hands. I may be having short term memory loss:) but....did they provide wash cloths? I think I remember I had to ask.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise, we have the world cruise on our bucket list also.

[EbayCruiser]

I really enjoyed reading your review today. We will be boarding the Westerdam this Saturday and the Oosterdam was our first cruise ship.

 

We always pack two bars of soap (Dove for me and Safeguard for DH). I also pack a bottle of liquid SoftSoap for the sink area. It's just one of the anal things I do. My DH often calls me Monica from the sitcom Friends.

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise and too bad about all the rain and rough seas.

[kftw]

Thank you for taking us on your cruise. I looked forward to each of your postings.

[cormike1]

So sorry for the loss of your Son. We lost our adult daughter (39) 5 years ago and still feel very sad she is missing from the festivities at Christmas time. They are still our babies, not matter how old they are.

 

We will be on the Oosterdam next Sept. doing a Med cruise and really looking forward to it. Up next is the Eurodam in about 6 weeks. Thank you for your excellent review. I enjoyed it a lot and feel I know the ship a bit better now.

 

Take care....my thoughts are with you and your husband.

[WeLoveCruising]

There's been lots of discussion on the pre-made sandwiches, so I took some notes and photos on our cruise. My disclaimer is that in the hundreds of days we've spent on HAL ships, I've never once had a Lido sandwich. Growing up, my family owned and operated a NY deli, so I'm very much a spoiled picky sandwich meat person.

 

Here's what I noticed with my untrained eye :)

 

There were pre-made sandwiches available each day. There were 4-5 varieties which rotated. A veggie sandwich and a wrap sandwich were always featured, as well as hero-style sandwiches. They were all very large, which I thought problematic. I think most people eating at the Lido select things like I do….a little of this, a little of that. Those sandwiches are a big meal in themselves, I doubt I could finish one, let alone have that and still sample other things I wanted. The combinations were specific. I would imagine if you don't like an ingredient, or are what my mom would call a picky eater, you would have a problem. There were few "ham and cheese" type things….instead it would be something like this (and I am improvising so bear with me, but you get the idea)….ham, gruyere cheese, arugula, black olives, apricot mustard, etc.

 

All that said, one day I noticed that spa sandwich with grilled pears, brie, and raspberry, and HAD to have it. It was absolutely delicious. My experience with that sandwich, even though it had been sitting out, is that it was cold and fresh. I ate it around 1:30pm, so I imagine it had been out for a while.

 

If I know what I'm doing with online photos (that's a big IF), here is a photo of the pre-made sandwiches:

 

 

https://goo.gl/photos/NtHrdV5ShxA5e9gB8

 

ETA: Oky-doky, that didn't work. I have the photo in my Google photos, shared it, and posted the link here. Not sure what I did wrong, but I'll work on it. Argh.

Edited December 30, 2015 by WeLoveCruising

[snookymom]

When we were in the Westerdam at Thanksgiving they had both. Twice we shared one but even that was a lot to eat. There were always some in bags that were pre made but I never saw anybody get one.

[WeLoveCruising]

I'm not great at online photos. I hope this link works.

 

Here is a link to some photos I took of the ship decorated for the holiday. There are a few of us on Gala nights as well, which really show off the decorations onboard.

 

https://goo.gl/photos/6rCqnVh78fbVZfFk8

 

Hopefully someone will tell me if this link works! I can see them, but also hope I have the sharing set up correctly. Thanks

[snookymom]

I'm not great at online photos. I hope this link works.

 

Here is a link to some photos I took of the ship decorated for the holiday. There are a few of us on Gala nights as well, which really show off the decorations onboard.

 

https://goo.gl/photos/6rCqnVh78fbVZfFk8

 

Hopefully someone will tell me if this link works! I can see them, but also hope I have the sharing set up correctly. Thanks

 

The link does work. I didn't have time to look at all of them since I'm supposed to be on my way to work but I enjoyed the ones I did see.

[WeLoveCruising]

The link does work. I didn't have time to look at all of them since I'm supposed to be on my way to work but I enjoyed the ones I did see.

 

Thanks! Hope you have a good day at work :)

[WeLoveCruising]

To simplify it, I grouped all of our photos in the same online album. Here is a link to some of our cruise photos that include:

 

-Ships holiday decorations

-Sandwich and salad stations at the Lido

-Aft Pool

-Gala Night

-Pinnacle Grill dinner

-MDR and Caneletto food

 

https://goo.gl/photos/6rCqnVh78fbVZfFk8

 

Hope you enjoy

[baggal]

Your food porn pictures are amazing!

 

I've been on the fence about returning to HAL (haven't sailed with them since 2009) and chose your thread to read because I'm considering a Med cruise on the Oosterdam this spring.

 

Thanks for taking the time from your rest and relaxation to post.

[vino100]

I'm not great at online photos. I hope this link works.

 

Here is a link to some photos I took of the ship decorated for the holiday. There are a few of us on Gala nights as well, which really show off the decorations onboard.

 

https://goo.gl/photos/6rCqnVh78fbVZfFk8

 

Hopefully someone will tell me if this link works! I can see them, but also hope I have the sharing set up correctly. Thanks

 

Yes, the pictures worked !! What a lovely couple you make. So nice to see who actually wrote the daily blog. Thanks so much for sharing your cruise.

[WeLoveCruising]

Thank you all for the kind words and well wishes on my son. It means a great deal to me.