Jan 3-11 Live from the Zuiderdam

[VMax1700]

On 1/5/2020 at 5:08 PM, 81Zoomie said:

She told us, “go downstairs and you will be accommodated.”

 

My experience of Priority tendering is that although it is announced over the PA that pax should go to (location eg World Stage) for tendering tickets, if you have priority tendering then you go straight to the queue at the tender platform and no need to get a ticket.

[Himself]

I am enjoying your posting.  Is James the magician working this cruise?  

[81Zoomie]

1 hour ago, Himself said:

I am enjoying your posting.  Is James the magician working this cruise?  

Trigg Watson is the magician scheduled tonight.

[81Zoomie]

A little info for the foodies out there.  We heard that HAL has severed its ties with America’s Test Kitchen.  The branding is still outside the BB King Lounge, but there have been no events.  Apparently, the plan is for the onboard chefs to do presentations.

 

We were finally able to move pictures across devices with limited WiFi, cell service, and a bit of ingenuity.  Attached are pics of the tasty candied bacon from the Pinnacle Grill, and pastries from the Lido buffet.  DH loves the curly jalapeño rolls.

[Krazy Kruizers]

All those different breads/rolls look delicious.

[CORealtor]

Enjoying your post!  Our favorite cabins are the Vista Class 5th floor aft wraps.  We will be on the Oosterdam in April and May in 5191.  Thank you for posting!

[FinelyRetired]

Thank you for doing a live review.  Will on board the 25th and I'm thoroughly enjoying your upbeat and candid review. 

Enjoy your retirement!

 

 

 

 

[Boatdrill]

Question for the OP about the Ocean Bar after sailaway from Ft Lauderdale: was it crowded during dinner hours, say at about 7:00 pm ?   Thanks.

[81Zoomie]

7 hours ago, Boatdrill said:

Question for the OP about the Ocean Bar after sailaway from Ft Lauderdale: was it crowded during dinner hours, say at about 7:00 pm ?   Thanks.

We had drinks in there about 6:30 the other night and there was plenty of room.  I will say, the bar situation is a little weird for a cruise ship.  We wanted to try the Billboard last night at 5:45ish.  It was not open, and there was nothing but stacked mini martini glasses (3 for $12) on the counter.  The Gallery bar was open, but it was dark and empty.  Since we didn’t want to sit all alone we popped up to the Sea View bar.  We ordered our drinks and went up top to watch the sunset.  There is no posted schedule of when the bars are open or closed.

[81Zoomie]

Day 4 - Falmouth, Jamaica

We were awakened by a bouncing that felt like driving over speed bumps at 6:30am.  It lasted about 15 minutes.  The seas were calm all night and it was before our scheduled arrival into Falmouth.  DH peaked out the window and we were still quite a way from shore.  Best we could figure out is perhaps we had to “hold” using the thrusters awaiting the pilot or pier personnel.  The thumping stopped and I fell back asleep.

The weather has been phenomenal!  On our last trip to the Caribbean the heat was oppressive.  This time it has been delightful.  Temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s, lower humidity, and gentle breezes.  It is very enjoyable to be outside!

We ate a leisurely breakfast in the Pinnacle.  We had no excursion plans.  On our last trip to Falmouth we did a very interesting walking food tour.  I would recommend  this tour offered by a third party.  But, that stretched my adventurous side.  I went to Dunn’s River Falls as a kid and remember the slippery rocks, crowd of people, and the exciting Jamaican roads.  Been there, done that!  If you go, make sure you take water shoes.  I would not recommend venturing outside the cruise port if you are not on a tour.  Last time my brother was in Falmouth a female police officer threatened to arrest him for jay walking just outside the cruise port.  DH humored me today and we simply walked through the cruise port shops, and with the exception of a t-shirt, window shopped.  We found it surprising that most of the Duty Free liquor prices were either in line, or more expensive than prices you can find in the states. Sail away was delayed for a party of three that came scurrying on board 15 min late.  The entire left side of the ship also had a great view of the pilot recovery boat bouncing in the swells.  There was a big cheer as he boarded his boat and headed home.

 

I have been been waiting to sail on HAL or Princess to purchase some more gold by the foot jewelry.  So glad it is on board.  I wear this jewelry for work and travel.  It may be inexpensive, but it looks nice, is sturdy, and I don’t worry about it.  Measured to your preferential length, cut, and ready to wear!  Success!

Our plan for this evening is dining al fresco.  We will order room service dinner and dine on the balcony.  This is a benefit HAL continues to offer, and we love dining with the fabulous view!  DH selected a nice wine to pair with his prime rib and my halibut.  We called down to room service and ordered our meal at 6:25pm.  We were told it would take an hour to arrive.  It only took 30 minutes!  The food was delicious, much better than the previous evening.  The lemon mashed potatoes with the fish were amazing. Hint, if you want rolls and butter, or anything else, be sure to order it as well.  It was a beautiful evening to eat out back and watch the lights on Jamaica fade away.

 

We went to see the magician Trigg Watson.  The early show was packed.  He was very talented and quite funny.  Trigg had a nice demeanor and related well with the audience.  We gambled for a bit after the show.  I played slots and DH sat at a table.  DH won a little bit of cash.  He celebrated with a brandy at BB Kings.  We enjoyed listening to the band and singers.  They are the only ones on the ship.  Time for bed, we have an excursion in the morning.

 

Tomorrow - Cayman Islands

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for the info.

Looking forward to more.

[Iamthesea]

"We enjoyed listening to the band and singers.  They are the only ones on the ship.  Time for bed, we have an excursion in the morning."

No dueling piano? 🤔

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wonderful report.

 

We didn't care for Falmouth when we were there.

 

Wonder why there are no times posted for when the various bars are open?

[*Miss G*]

21 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

 

My experience of Priority tendering is that although it is announced over the PA that pax should go to (location eg World Stage) for tendering tickets, if you have priority tendering then you go straight to the queue at the tender platform and no need to get a ticket.

 

This is my understanding as well.  There is no separate line for priority people to jump in front.  You get in line with the people before you.

 

I am enjoying your report @81Zoomie!  Thank you.

[Boatdrill]

3 hours ago, 81Zoomie said:

We had drinks in there about 6:30 the other night and there was plenty of room.  I will say, the bar situation is a little weird for a cruise ship.  We wanted to try the Billboard last night at 5:45ish.  It was not open, and there was nothing but stacked mini martini glasses (3 for $12) on the counter.  The Gallery bar was open, but it was dark and empty.  Since we didn’t want to sit all alone we popped up to the Sea View bar.  We ordered our drinks and went up top to watch the sunset.  There is no posted schedule of when the bars are open or closed.

Thanks for the info. Very helpful !

[3rdGenCunarder]

Two foodie questions.

 

How are you supposed to eat the clothesline bacon? Take it off the hook and hold it in your hand?

 

Any word on when the new non-ATK classes will start? I liked the chef classes better than ATK, so I hope they've got it up and running soon.

 

[Iamthesea]

I am not sure why the bacon is presented as hanging.  Reminds me of a hanging pig.  😞  In other establishments, or when I make it at home, it's served on a platter.  Eat with a fork and a knife on our plates.

[RuthC]

5 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

How are you supposed to eat the clothesline bacon? Take it off the hook and hold it in your hand?

The bacon is thick enough, and soft enough, to eat it with a knife and fork. It's really greasy if you touch it much. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

5 hours ago, RuthC said:

The bacon is thick enough, and soft enough, to eat it with a knife and fork. It's really greasy if you touch it much. 

 

Thanks, good to know because I like my bacon super crispy. One time at the Lido the bacon was very under-cooked and I asked if they had any crispy bacon, so they put a few pieces in the deep fryer. Now, that was crispy!

 

[81Zoomie]

On 1/7/2020 at 9:33 AM, Iamthesea said:

"We enjoyed listening to the band and singers.  They are the only ones on the ship.  Time for bed, we have an excursion in the morning."

No dueling piano? 🤔

Yes, my error, the piano players do sing, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of energy.  The times we heard them it seemed more like duets rather than dueling pianos.  Just my opinion.

[81Zoomie]

17 hours ago, RuthC said:

The bacon is thick enough, and soft enough, to eat it with a knife and fork. It's really greasy if you touch it much. 

The bacon was thick but not crispy.  I was surprised it was not very greasy.  We thought maybe it was baked?  You have to unhook it by hand.  I ate it with a knife and fork.

[RuthC]

20 minutes ago, 81Zoomie said:

 I was surprised it was not very greasy.

It might be that the maple syrup combined with the grease made it feel stickier than the bacon without the syrup would have felt. 

[81Zoomie]

Day 5 - Grand Cayman

We set an alarm this morning since we have an excursion planned.  It was another beautiful day in paradise! We are ship #4.  The Seaside, Serenade OTS, and Volendam were already there.  The Disney Fantasy arrived a couple of hours later.  The Lido opened promptly at 6:30 for breakfast.  The ship was cleared, and tendering began at 8:00.   The large shore based tenders were used.  Priority tendering worked perfectly. We simply walked downstairs, showed our key cards, and were allowed to board.  We were ashore by 8:20.

 

Our plan for the day was our stingray excursion and the Cayman Island distillery.  We selected a third party Stingray sailing tour after reading many online reviews on multiple sites.  The tour we selected had a maximum of 20 people and had rave reviews.  The biggest factor was the description of how the crew treated the animals with respect, didn’t grab them and told them up for pictures, and taught us how to interact with the rays.  We didn’t need a picture of the animals out of the water, we wanted to see them in their natural habitat.  The crew informed us that we would have many more rays than the large congregations of boats and people because the rays learn who treats them kindly.  They were correct!   We hopped into the chest deep water and there was a swarm of large and small rays that swam up to us, and brushed against us.  The females were quite large and the males were small.  They were like puppies coming to say hi.  It was a little intimidating at first, but they were just being friendly.  The undersides were very smooth and the tops were a bit more coarse.  The crew had names for most of them.  We were in the water for about 30 minutes in our own little group with perhaps 3 dozen rays.  The big circle of boats and hoards of people had just a few.  This was a most incredible experience and the highlight of our cruise so far!  We were also able to snorkel by a small reef and saw many colorful fish.  The captain hoisted the sail and we sailed back to the island.  These photos are on my waterproof camera, so the download will take a bit longer.

 

We were back to the docks by 1pm.  Then we caught a cab to the Cayman Spirits distillery famous for its Seven Fathoms rum that is actually aged in barrels 7 fathoms underwater.  We prefer their dark Governors Reserve and the Coconut rums.  They are not available in the states, so we pick up a few bottles when we visit the island.  The distillery is family owned and operated.  One of the owners was happy to pour us an overflowing shot of our favorite rums on the house!  This is a small scale unpretentious operation.  The emphasis is on producing small batch handcrafted rums and having fun.  It’s a little off the beaten path, but not far from the Tortuga Distillery.  If you want to have a bit of fun we would recommend it.  They called us a cab and we were at the docks by 1:50pm.

 

We jumped in line for a tender and we just missed one.  DH didn’t want to wait for another because we Would miss lunch.  We walked up to the Carman Craperie and had a quick slice of pizza and a drink.  Who could resist a 7 Fathoms rum and coke in Grand Cayman? We finished, caught a tender, and were back on board by 3pm.

 

There wasn’t much to do before we sailed.  We spend a lot of time on the verandah.  The downstairs bars were very quiet before dinner.  We went to dinner at 6pm.  DH had the Caribbean Chicken and I had the lasagne.  Both meals were good.  The service was better than we experienced in the Pinnacle Grill the other evening.

 

One comment about the Club Orange.  We have always been seated with folks who were not in CO and who waited no longer in line than we did, and have been seated at a table for 6 by the water.  The separate white menu is a bit wasteful because it is printed and produced for only one additional entree item.  The only thing it does is to identify to the waiter that you are eligible for the additional entree.  Tonight it was a duck breast.

 

The Billboard Onboard piano bar was rather subdued. “Raindrops keep falling on my head,” was the tune being played.  The audience was just staring off into space.  This was a far cry from the days of the piano bar when folks would sing along and the room was packed.  Lincoln Stage had a string quartet and the atmosphere, as one would expect, was rather quiet and focused.  Searching for a little energy, we went to the casino.  No big wins, but we were entertained.

 

At 9pm we walked about in search of ice cream, or a cookie, or chocolate, anything to snack on.  The Lido buffet was closed.  The Neptune Lounge was dark and had a few left over appetizers.  Explorations Central no longer has snacks like the Explorers Cafe did.  It was hard to believe, but at 9pm there were no food options available with the exception of room service.  It’s not like we were starving or needed the extra calories, but we are on vacation!

 

BB Kings was packed and lively, but all the seats were taken.  We stood next to the bar for a few minutes, swayed to the  music, and enjoyed the vibrant atmosphere.  It was a long day and we headed to bed.  For the first time all cruise we felt a little movement in the cabin, no vibration, just rocking.  And, it rocked us right to sleep!

 

As always, pics to follow after we do the device transfers.  Thankfully we have T-Mobile cellular so we have free data on shore to work with as well as the ships WiFi.

 

[81Zoomie]

Our Day 6 in Cozumel didn’t quite go as planned.  As I mentioned, there was a little motion when we left Grand Cayman yesterday.  The seas were rolling and the wind was blowing as we approached Cozumel.  We were due in at 11:00 am with 12 hours in port.  MSC, RC, and Carnival were at the docks.  A Viking ship was leaving port.  It was WINDY, 25 gust 37 knots.  There are no tugs.  We spun in circles as the captain made 3 attempts before electing to sail by as the Viking ship had done.  This was the prudent call, especially given the Carnival incident here several weeks ago.  
 

Our leisurely day in Cozumel was not to be.  No tequila tasting, dinner, or shopping on shore.  Disappointing for us, but especially sad for the crew.  All we spoke to had time off this evening.  One waiter was going shopping for items he could only get in Cozumel.  Our room steward was looking forward to calling home to Indonesia.  The casino staff had off and the main dining room was closed.  Instead they all had to smile and spring into action at lunch time.

 

I now have some unexpected time to download my underwater pics. (Olympus ’Tough’ point and shoot, nothing fancy)  I really can’t emphasize enough how amazing and graceful the stingrays were.  Additionally, I have 2 pics showing the difference between our intimate tour experience and the large group tours.

[81Zoomie]

Day 6 - At Sea

 

DH elected you take a short nap and then go to the gym. I elected to walk about and read a book I received for Christmas.  At 6 pm we headed up to the Sea View bar for a cocktail.  Timing was perfect and we went up to Deck 10 to watch the sunset.  It was stilll quite windy, but we found a sheltered spot.  Up popped a star... or perhaps a planet.  It was very bright.  I made a wish!

 

We really hoped to eat on our verandah.  It was still too windy.  We decided to order room service and eat in the cabin instead.  We had music playing on the tv and it was very cozy.  Pics of our dinner are attached,  We had the hummus and the prosciutto appetizer with the beef tri tip entree.   Creme brûlée and  the apple cranberry crosp rounded out our meal.

 

We had a very relaxing day.  We still feel for the crew.  One crew member was supposed to have 6 hours off today after nearly no time off the ship in 30 days.  We are so blessed to vacation like this.  It would not be possible without the hard work and dedication  of the crew.

 

Costa Maya is scheduled in the morning.  It’s still a bumpy and we can hear the wind.  Hoping for the the best tomorrow.  Good night!