Nearly Live from Oosterdam Med Empires June 13th - 25th.

[Sharon in AZ]

On 6/15/2022 at 8:53 PM, VMax1700 said:

Quarantine Cabins.

 

This evening I took a walk around the decks to see if I could find which section of cabins were blocked off as quarantine cabins.

Turns out that on deck 6 forward of the forward elevators are blocked off on both sides.   Could be for crew quarantining as I believe I read on another thread that there were new staff on board.

 

 

My DH was in 6013 so it isn’t just for crew. He said there were people around because he could hear them coughing. He spent a lot of time on his balcony. 
 

BTW, sorry if you said this (I’m a bit behind reading), but for us both dining levels were open. Deck 2 was anytime dining and Club Orange, Deck 3 was fixed dining. Both levels were only open on one side. 

[VMax1700]

Good morning from Kusadasi, Turkiye.

 

 

[VMax1700]

 

[VMax1700]

Today's When & Where 

 

[VMax1700]

Dinner Menus for tonight for MDR

 

 

 

And Dinner in Lido

 

[VMax1700]

Today's Lunch menu for Lido

 

[VMax1700]

Just a FYI for those arriving in Kusadasi later in the season,

There was no check on Vaccine status, nor was any visa required.  I only had to produce the Ships Card, not even asked for passport.  

 

 

[VMax1700]

Both yesterday (Katakolo) and today (Kusadasi), there was no bag inspection/scanning when coming back onboard.  

[VMax1700]

20 new crew members came on board today.

(I don't know if any left or if they are additional)

[puppycanducruise]

Enjoy your day in Kusadasi.

I'm enjoying your cruise, thanks for the pictures and info.

Edited June 17, 2022 by puppycanducruise

[kazu]

57 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Both yesterday (Katakolo) and today (Kusadasi), there was no bag inspection/scanning when coming back onboard.  

 

Was that bag scanning in the port and on the ship, Colin?  I found that the ship didn’t scan if the port did but no scanning at all is surprising!

[VMax1700]

27 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Was that bag scanning in the port and on the ship, Colin?  I found that the ship didn’t scan if the port did but no scanning at all is surprising!

Ooops, I erred and you spotted it!

There was bag checking in both ports, but right after the check there were shops where wine and spirits could be purchased.  There was no check on the ship, so it would, in theory,  be possible to bring on alcohol and consume it onboard.  

Or am I missing something?

[VMax1700]

Today's bread pudding 😁

 

[albingirl]

5 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Ooops, I erred and you spotted it!

There was bag checking in both ports, but right after the check there were shops where wine and spirits could be purchased.  There was no check on the ship, so it would, in theory,  be possible to bring on alcohol and consume it onboard.  

Or am I missing something?

Correct.  Thank you for this great thread.  I've appreciated it.

[kazu]

5 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Ooops, I erred and you spotted it!

There was bag checking in both ports, but right after the check there were shops where wine and spirits could be purchased.  There was no check on the ship, so it would, in theory,  be possible to bring on alcohol and consume it onboard.  

Or am I missing something?

 

Thanks 👍 

 

It’s been my experience (generally speaking) that when there is scanning in the port - there is none on the ship.

 

And yes, there are often ‘duty free’ stores after the security.

 

And yes, I have seen lots of passengers make purchases and take it on board or come back from the ship and make purchases.

 

You are not missing a thing 😉 

[VMax1700]

13 hours ago, ger_77 said:

There's a Carrefour store mid-way between our hotels that we'll be hitting up for some "supplies" to take onboard - crackers and chocolate (because apparently we now only get chocolates on gala nights).  I'm going to put a chocolate on my pillow before we head out for dinner, then act surprised when we return at the end of the evening.  LOL

Is that the Carrefour half way down Las Ramblas?  They have a good wine selection too!

Sadly, you are correct about the choco-choco 😉  It has appeared only once this cruise and that was on gala night.  Maybe the TA will have 3 gala nights, so 3 portions of chocolate 😁

[VMax1700]

12 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Enjoying the reviews and pix of food ").  What about onboard entertainment?

 

Hank

Over the next day or two, I will be posting a 'mid-term report' which will cover the entertainment, but let's just say it is somewhere between underwhelming and mediocre.

[terrydtx]

58 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Ooops, I erred and you spotted it!

There was bag checking in both ports, but right after the check there were shops where wine and spirits could be purchased.  There was no check on the ship, so it would, in theory,  be possible to bring on alcohol and consume it onboard.  

Or am I missing something?

Years ago when we departed Barcelona there was a wine shop between check-in security and the ship. We purchased several bottles of good Spanish wine to take onboard with us. No problems so after we got to our cabin we went back off the ship and got more wine, I do not recall any of the bottles being more than 10 Euros. 

[*Miss G*]

2 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Over the next day or two, I will be posting a 'mid-term report' which will cover the entertainment, but let's just say it is somewhere between underwhelming and mediocre.

 

Oh now you’ve done it.  I can picture him rubbing his hands in glee.  😂

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

6 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Thanks 👍 

 

It’s been my experience (generally speaking) that when there is scanning in the port - there is none on the ship.

 

And yes, there are often ‘duty free’ stores after the security.

 

And yes, I have seen lots of passengers make purchases and take it on board or come back from the ship and make purchases.

 

You are not missing a thing 😉 

 

The only time we've had our things scanned in the port and on the ship was in Naples.  Evidently, there were some issues, and HAL security was not happy with the port scanning process.

Edited June 17, 2022 by Quartzsite Cruiser

[VMax1700]

6 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Years ago when we departed Barcelona there was a wine shop between check-in security and the ship. We purchased several bottles of good Spanish wine to take onboard with us. No problems so after we got to our cabin we went back off the ship and got more wine, I do not recall any of the bottles being more than 10 Euros. 

Wine is still extremely good value in Spain.  Recently in a hotel near Malaga I ordered a bottle of Solar Viejo Rioja in the restaurant.  The price was €15.  The same wine is available in the HAL Sommelier Suit and it would cost approx €27 in the ship's restaurant.  (Cellar #3; 50% 4 Star discount; 18% SC).  That is an amazing markup, considering the Malaga hotel also had a markup.

 

[srnash]

On 6/16/2022 at 3:59 AM, terrydtx said:

We were told that our Aug 21 cruise boarding will begin at 11:00am, we are still too far out to check in and get a boarding time. Worse case if we are not allowed to board, we will drop off our bags and explore Trieste and get lunch, that is plan B. My wife and sister already have bought pedicures and manicures in the spa begging at 1:45pm so we need to board by 1pm.

Hmmmm - maybe that's the way to get an earlier boarding time? Ours is at 5pm - way too late! 

 

Loving this post. Thank you so much VMax1700. We are looking forward to our cruise starting the day you disembark. 

And thanks to all for the tips about onboarding chocolate and wine. I'm going to plan for that!

[Fredrik]

9 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Over the next day or two, I will be posting a 'mid-term report' which will cover the entertainment, but let's just say it is somewhere between underwhelming and mediocre.

The bar right now on HAL when it comes to entertainment is so low that anything above a dark theatre will come as a nice surprise when we travel with Oosterdam in July. I really miss the entertainment and Music walk is not really the way forward. I hope HAL rethink the entire setup. This will be our seventh HAL cruise, but for that reason only it might be the last. A lot of other things are really good on HAL so I think better entertainment will actually bring people back.

[VMax1700]

Good morning from Oosterdam approaching Istanbul, Turkiye.

 

Today's When & Where:

 

[VMax1700]

Today (Saturday 18th June) (day 6)

Classed as a 'Sea Day' as we arrive at Istanbul at 4pm local and PG is open for lunch!

 

MDR Dinner Menu:

 

 

 

Lido Dinner Menu: