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

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Have a great time..

[VMax1700]

2 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Oh dear - I hope the dentist can fix this ASAP.  Prayers for her 🙏🏻 

Panic over for the moment.  We are ok to go.  It will be an ongoing problem for her because of her various drugs, which are not conducive to good bone or tooth health. 

[kazu]

1 hour ago, VMax1700 said:

Panic over for the moment.  We are ok to go.  It will be an ongoing problem for her because of her various drugs, which are not conducive to good bone or tooth health. 

 

Thank heavens 👏. Sorry this will be a challenge for her in the future - you were smart to have it checked right away 👍 

[VMax1700]

ED -3

 

At 8.33am Irish time (00.33 am Seattle time) I received an 'Important Notice' email to say that the Health Questionnaire was available on the  Navigator App or on the website.    Such excitement so early in the morning! 😉

I used the website (easier on the eyesight) and a few minutes later the questionnaire had been completed and submitted.   I then opened Verifly on my phone, select Holland America, select Manage Trip, select Manage Checklist and there it is, a beautiful big green tick (check mark) beside the Health Assessment.  Now the only element outstanding is the Negative Covid test, which is scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday).

 

(more to follow:)

[Sharon in AZ]

On 6/9/2022 at 10:34 AM, VMax1700 said:

Hi Tony,

A pop up Tamarind would be great, but there is nothing showing on Navigator and also PG is bookable for all nights (except the night of Pinnacle Gala and pop up Sel de Mer).  So I feel we will be unlucky.  Hope you have more luck in September!

We were on Oosterdam twice but it was back in 2016.

Best wishes to you and Martha.

Colin

Hi Colin and @sailingdutchy — as you know we are on the Oosterdam right now. For our sailing the pop up Rudi’s was canceled and the Pinnacle Grill has not been open for sea day lunch, nor has the MDR been open for sea day lunch. I believe it has to do with the amount of passengers on board. I’m guessing we are half full. I’m not sure about a Pinnacle Gala Dinner yet. I’ve not seen any notices for one. There was an Orange Party last night but we didn’t go. 

[terrydtx]

15 minutes ago, Sharon in AZ said:

Hi Colin and @sailingdutchy — as you know we are on the Oosterdam right now. For our sailing the pop up Rudi’s was canceled and the Pinnacle Grill has not been open for sea day lunch, nor has the MDR been open for sea day lunch. I believe it has to do with the amount of passengers on board. I’m guessing we are half full. I’m not sure about a Pinnacle Gala Dinner yet. I’ve not seen any notices for one. There was an Orange Party last night but we didn’t go. 

Wow, I hope this changes by the time we sail on the Oosterdam in August, we have 5 sea days over the 14 day cruise and we hate eating in the buffets for any meal. We cruise to be pampered and that includes sit down meals being served to us by the wait staff. If the MDR is not open for sea days, that limits lunch to the buffets and Dive-In neither a great alternative. Is room service open for lunch? On our Port days we will be having lunch on shore at local restaurants to savor the local quisine. This is very disappointing news.

 

We cruised on the Celebrity Equinox last year and while she was at 40% capacity all of the restaurants including the suites only Luminae were open on every sea day.

Edited June 10, 2022 by terrydtx

[VMax1700]

3 hours ago, Sharon in AZ said:

Pinnacle Grill has not been open for sea day lunch, nor has the MDR been open for sea day lunch

That will probable disappoint a few people, but we have never gone to MDR for lunch (except Mariners or Collectors) also never gone for breakfast.  Much prefer to forage in Lido.

 

[Himself]

Colin, have a great cruise

[Sharon in AZ]

1 hour ago, VMax1700 said:

That will probable disappoint a few people, but we have never gone to MDR for lunch (except Mariners or Collectors) also never gone for breakfast.  Much prefer to forage in Lido.

 

It was a disappointment for us, but we only have two sea days so we got over that quickly.  
 

Have a great cruise and enjoy!

[terrydtx]

1 hour ago, VMax1700 said:

That will probable disappoint a few people, but we have never gone to MDR for lunch (except Mariners or Collectors) also never gone for breakfast.  Much prefer to forage in Lido.

 

We always have breakfast in our cabin with room service, except for days we want eggs benedict, hard to get EB cooked right and warm with room service. Will be disappointed if no lunch in MDR on sea days, the Lido buffet is not an option we want or like. Just like we NEVER eat in any land buffet restaurants.

[VMax1700]

Saturday 11th June.

Bags packed and weighed to ensure no charges at the airport.

Flights to/from Cork and Venice appear to be running to schedule and the seat between us on the flight is still showing as unoccupied, but the flight is very full 🤞. 😁

Just about to start running through the 'lock up checklist' before we start our latest adventure.

Safe travels to all joining us on the ship and safe home to those who will be debarking on Monday.

 

[Mtn2Sea]

Hope upon have a smooth and safe flight! ✈️

[kazu]

Hope that empty seat stays empty on the plane 🤞 

 

Very safe travels to you both.

 

[VMax1700]

Today so far:

Got to the airport and parked the car.  Terminal is quiet and the baggage drop/check in for Ryanair was not open so we were second in the queue.  It opened shortly afterwards and although one bag was slightly overweight (not saying whose 😉) we were soon heading over to the test centre for our Covid test.  We were about 45 minutes early for our appointment, but they took us immediately and the tester had the softest touch!  10 minutes later we had negative results.

No one at security so we are now in the Aspire Lounge and I am on my second Merlot.

Flight is delayed by 40 minutes, so there may be a couple more drinkies! 🍷

[VMax1700]

Covid test results (both negative) where back within 30 minutes and both have now been uploaded to Verifly.  It  did need two devices, as Verifly request, date, time, practitioner name etc, so I had that open on laptop and entered details on phone.

They did state that the document was received and we are now waiting on confirmation from Verifly that the results have been accepted.

[Hooked!]

Excited for your trip report, as I board the Oosterdam next month. Thank you! 

[terrydtx]

3 hours ago, kazu said:

Hope that empty seat stays empty on the plane

Pre Covid, we had about 30% success in using the book aisle and window seats to keep the middle seat empty scenario. We have not had any luck flying domestically on anything less than 100% sold out flights post Covid, which is why we started flying First and Business class only. Last Sunday, American for our Miami to DFW flight was offering $400 in flight credits for main cabin passengers willing to give up their seats on a very overbooked flight.

[VMax1700]

Well, we have eventually arrived at our hotel in Venice Mestre.

Our flight was delayed due to the incoming aircraft being delayed on a previous flight, however we did have a further delay to boarding and eventual departure due to 2 'illegals' being found onboard.  Apparently two men from Georgia (Europe!) had managed to board the aircraft in Venice without proper documentation and they were escorted from the plane by Irish Police.  The plane was then delayed as the illegals were processed and put back on the plane for return to Italy.  So, instead of arriving at VCE at 7.55 pm it was 9.30 before we reached the terminal building.

 

when we got onboard the plane we were quite happy - just look at those smiling faces!

[VMax1700]

Venice on final approach, with dusk falling,

Apologies for quality

 

[VMax1700]

Inside VCE baggage hall there are phone/mobile device charging points.  They are free but you do need a European 2 pin plug/adapter.

[VMax1700]

Also in the baggage hall there are ticket machines for Alilaguna,  ATVO bus etc

[VMax1700]

Our hotel had this notice in reception about testing.

I am posting it incase it is of use to someone.

I have checked and the QR code is linking ok.  There are two facilities and I checked the one in Pza Roma and they are open tomorrow (Sunday) with plenty of availability.

[VMax1700]

When we switched off 'flight mode' on our phones, there were emails from Verifly to say that the review of test results were complete and to check the app for status.

Drum roll please................Ready to Sail  (in green letters!)  yippee!

[ger_77]

5 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

When we switched off 'flight mode' on our phones, there were emails from Verifly to say that the review of test results were complete and to check the app for status.

Drum roll please................Ready to Sail  (in green letters!)  yippee!

Woo Hoo!!!   Have a great cruise!

[Sharon in AZ]

Fantastic @VMax1700!  Also thank you for sharing all of the information, very helpful for future passengers.