Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

The Laffnvegas Quicky Review of the Feb.4-11 Oosterdam Cruise

LAFFNVEGAS

By LAFFNVEGAS,
in Holland America Line

Recommended Posts

LAFFNVEGAS "Live from...." Rare

LAFFNVEGAS

Posted
Posted

This was our third time on the Oosterdam and the second doing this same Itineray within less than 4 months. This was also the secoind time we stayed in 5187 a corner aft suite.

 

Our flight to San Diego was as easy as it gets, while waiting to board in Las Vegas we met one of the speakers for Apple Computers that was to be part of the Geek Cruisers on board. She had a connecting flight in Las Vegas. She ended up sitting behind us on the plane and sharing a taxi to the Cruise ship terminal with us. This was the first time in San Diego that the Taxi drove us thru the gates and right to the door to check in whcih surprised us. We had gotten to the cruise ship terminal at about 10:45 and they were already letting passengers in the building to check in. We were able to walk right up and check in. We probably waited about 30 minutes and they started boarding passenger. Being in a suite we were able to board immediately. We went right up to the Neptune Lounge to drop off our carry-ons, chatted a bit with our Concierges. We then headed up to the Lido. It was still early so hardly anyone was in the Lido so there were plenty of tables. I am always amazed at hoe great the Lido is that first day. Plus there are so many items I want to try:D Of course the Rotisserie Chicken is the best and of course I had to have some bread pudding

After we ate it was about 12:30 so we decided we would go ahead and take a walk up by our aft cabin and see if it was ready. We then met our great cabin steward that told us our cabin was ready and that Mr. Deering had come down to check with him and make sure the box was there from shonuf aka Susan. After seeing that everything was just as we remembered in October we went back up to the Neptune to grab out carry ons. We went back to the cabin and within a few minutes our luggage arrived quite early. We were able to unpack quickly then just relaxed in the cabin fro a while before we headed up to the balcony on deck 6 over looking the bow. We were waving like crazy, many popped in from both board Roll Calls but we were missing Atomica aka Aaron which at the time had not heard what happend with his canceled flight out of Vancouver. I had thought there was a possiblity that James Deering the Hotel Manager might show up and sure enought he did:) He is one very impressive gentleman, not only is he very knowlegable and informative but also very appoachable and friendly. After the "wave" it was about time to get ready for Life Boat Drill. OK, by this point of reading your are saying "I thought this was a quicky review:confused: " Sorry some times I get carried away.

The first evening dinner was different for us. We first had requested table 135 but was given table 116 which was still OK since it is a table by the window but early dining is now between 5:30 and 6. This is a bit early for us but the second seating is just too late. We arrived promptly at 5:30 with tablemates arriving at 5:50 then at 6:00 Basically this meant we had to wait till 6 to start placing our order for dinner. The people we were seated with were a Mom and Dad and their daughter and son in law. The daughter was upset because they thought this dining was way to early and wanted late so we were not sure we would see them the following night. We did not which was good because the couple that we were fortunate to have seated with us were great and made fore enjoyable dining all week. I will say that we still are not fond of the new Leisure Dining, I guess we are a bit "Old Fashion' and just prefer the two dining times and that it should not have an open window.

 

I do also want to mention one of the first persons we met on the first evening was Julie the shops Manager who reads our boards and is daughter to Liverpool Lou. We had the pleasure of chatting daily with Julie all weeks and it felt like we had know her for years. We also go a chuckle out of meeting up with one of her employees that had worked in the figt shop on the Maasdam and remembered us and what we bought on the Maasdam.

 

We had an interesting "Wake Up Call" Sunday morning, it was the Fire Alarm/ Emergency Drill at 3:50 AM It seems that there was a fire in the incinterator room, now my question to Tom at that hour was "Isn't that what the Incinterator does??" The Captain came on the P.A. system several times explaining what was going on. After about 30 minutes we were all able to go back to sleep.

 

The first Formal night was Sunday - Super Bowl Sunday. Several Super Bowl parties were going on they even had the Super Bowl being played on large screen in the Vista Show Room during the Captain Reception.

 

If you notice I have not mentioned any of the shows, well I guess Tom and Lisa are kind of boring:o We did not attend any of the shows nor the Oosterdam Superstars or went to any movies. After dinner each evening we would walk around a bit then go back to our cabin to read. We did so much of NOTHING all week that it flew by and I have no idea what we really did. But that is basically what we planned to totally relax and do nothing.

 

The food and service on the cruise was probably the best we have encountered. I found lots of what we come to expect such as the Signature Chocolate Cake on the first night and Prime Rib on Monday night and the Hazelnut crusted Brie on the first Formal night. There were a few items that seemed new or at least I do not remember that were fantastic. One of those items was on Wednesday was the Hazelnut Crusted Red Snapper on Wednesday. There were so many great seafood dishes.

 

As many of you know we had request at particular Asti Champagne, it was there and Mr. Deering had even checked into it to make shure it was there for us. All of these little touches were very impressive to us.

 

On Monday we did the Historic Pirate Ship Whale Watch, unfortunately we saw very few whales but it was a nice scenic boat ride. Tuesday we did the Deluxe City Tour of Mazatlan. I would actually recommend this tour it was very entertaining and informative for the price. After the show we stayed in the Golden Zone and had lunch at Poncho's on the Beach and did some shopping. It was really a great day. Wednesday was P.V. we grabbed a taxi into town and did some shopping. We actually headed back to the ship early and relaxed.

 

Thursday after the Mariner's reception James Deering held a Cruise Critic Q & A session. it was actually well attended by those that knew about Cruise Critic, those that were lurkers and those of us from the Roll Call. This was the second week that Mr. Deering held this. It was very informative as well as funny/entertaining. Mr. Deering had some great stories:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LAFFNVEGAS "Live from...." Rare

LAFFNVEGAS

Posted
  • Author
Posted

One thing I want to mention. Mr.Deering let me know that Holland America would be holding meetings here in Las Vegas the first part of June and that he would like to attend one of our HAL CC Board Get Togethers. Who knows we may even get some of the other hotel managers to join us. I am thinking this could be a very big "Get-Together" and some of our CC HAL Board friends that live near Las Vegas may want to come also. I will keep everyone post as to when the exact dates will be and we will choose a place for our Get together. Of course everyone is invited.:)

 

I really do not know where the time went this past week, I had thought with not planning anything we could enjoy the cruise more but the time just flew by.

 

We really had nice weather, the first sea day was cool and cloudy but the seas were smooth. The days in port were all very sunny and nice but the evenings were very cool which was a bit dissappointing because I had wanted to sit out on the balcony sipping champagne but it was always too cool. I had thought that Thursday would be warmer than Friday but in fact Friday was a bit nicer outside. Now I think someone had mentioned that the seas were a bit rough near the Cabo area. This was our third time cruising this area and it was truly the smoothest. The boat barely rocked all week. The one thing I still cannot quite figure out is the strange noises we occaisionally hear in 5187. Sometimes in the middle of the night you hear sounds like furniture being dragged accross a floor, yet none of the balcony furniture has moved.

 

Overall this was a wonderful cruise, great food, relaxing and the best service on the high seas. Meeting Mr. Deering and Julie was a treat and they made us feel very special. It was also a pleasure meeting Captain Olav vander Waard and Jimmy Lynett our Cruise Director.

 

I want to give a special thanks to Mr. Deering for his extra attention to detail and for being the Great Hotel Manager that he is.

 

If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.

 

Here is the link to pictures from this cruise.

Part 1

http://community.webshots.com/album/547512961DgHgIE

 

Part 2

http://community.webshots.com/album/547522649qYTiTB

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RevNeal

RevNeal

Posted
Posted

Lisa and Tom!

Thanks for the GREAT pictures and the quickie (haha) review!

Noticed you finally met up with Vic! :)

He looked like he was happy to be in the warmth of San Diego and not the piles and piles of SNOW back in his home. :)

 

About Vegas in June ... let me know when and where. I might be able to make it. One never knows when I can shake away for a day or 2. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
shonuf

shonuf

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the "quicky". Obviously I'm longer winded than you since mine ran 6 pages long (and we didn't really do anything either!)

 

It's hard to believe it's all over. Now we're trying to decide what next. I have a "BIG" birthday in October but I don't think we'll do a cruise for that. Brian really wants to go back to a smaller ship next time so we'll have to see.

 

Great photos too. Especially liked the shot of the lights on the balcony. We also did the whale watching in Cabo so we have a lot of similar shots.

 

Still experiencing a little "dock rock".

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dakrewser

dakrewser

Posted
Posted
When will you be here? Let me know privately if you wish. We'll work on getting the gang together.

 

I'll be in town the last week in March for a conference at the Green Valley Ranch Resort & Spa in Henderson. The evening of the 29th or 28th work best for me....

Link to comment
Share on other sites
richcrow

richcrow

Posted
Posted

Lisa,

 

Enjoyed your review and photos. DW and I are sailing on Oosterdam to Alsaska on May 27th. I noticed that you made that same cruise. Do you have any suggestions that might help this be a good cruise for us?

 

Also, saw where you sailed on the Zuiderdam. Zuiderdam last Oct. was our first HAL cruise and we fell in love with HAL. There will be no returning to Carnival for us. Which ship did you enjoy the most - Oosterdam or Zuiderdam?

 

Richard & Judie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...