Ms Oosterdam

[Nasmas]

What's happening with the Oosterdam? No one who's been on her in has written a review or anything else in weeks. We're going in April and look forward to reading every tidbit. Come on, cruisers, give us some info

[Copper10-8]

What's happening with the Oosterdam? No one who's been on her in has written a review or anything else in weeks. We're going in April and look forward to reading every tidbit. Come on, cruisers, give us some info

 

Here's mine: have a great cruise Nasmas!:)

Cruise review - 7-Day Mexican Riviera on Oosterdam 11-18 FEB 06 (1 2 3)

[ore-ee-gun]

We just returned yesterday and I'm busy just now running laundry and trying to regain my land legs. I'll post my thoughts within the next couple of days, but for now, suffice it to say that we had a fabulous cruise!:D

[lougee1043]

not the latest report but you might find this interesting

AAAAACARIBREPORT

This could be a first for the cc board- this is a combined report from 2 people who met on the cc board prior to their cruise- met on board and decided to combine reports

You will note 2 different type styles – each one representing a different writer.

Prior to boarding ship:

Lougee1043 left Portland, Oregon on wed 3/17 on a red eye to Orlando, Florida and then a car ride to our sons new home in palm bay to spend a few days with them and the new grandson- who gave us his cold which we didn’t discover til after we boarded.

My turn! Here goes nothing or something, take your pick. RandyK47 and Mrs. K (aka Carey) traveled to Ft Lauderdale on Saturday, 20 March. We stayed at the Westin as arranged by HAL. Luckily Carey is a member of Westin’s preferred visitor club and we were upgraded to a suite for the evening. Smart lady. No wonder I married her! Not a bad way to start a cruise. Might add that the Westin is a bit out of the way and we prefer Pier 66 but HAL actually handled the transfer quite well so no real complaints there.

Boarding ship:

Lougee1043: We were at the terminal about 11:00 after turning our rental car in – there were about 100 people lined up outside when we got there- met 2 other couples from the cc board before we even got into the building –doors opened at 11:30 and we processed through without incident – it is really helpful if you did your immigration questionnaire on –line ----we had an s class cabin so there was no line in getting our documents for boarding – they now take your pix at that time and it is part of the mag strip on the back of your room key. Were allowed to board almost immediately --- because of the new early boarding procedure there were no escorts to the cabins – I thought that the S class pax would at least be escorted to the Neptune lounge but that didn’t happen either – thanks for the hal web site we did know where is was and we proceeded there – met up with one of the couples we met outside and had some snacks before going up to the lido for lunch- then it was back to the cabin for a little leisure time prior to lifeboat drill and unpacking –

RandyK47: We left the Westin about 1:30 PM on the HAL provided transportation. Bus arrived at the terminal at about 2:00 PM. Agree with Lougee1043….have all your documents filled out and HAL will get you on the ship quite quickly. Interestingly we got called to Window 21 which was the day of the sailing, it is my birthday, and our wedding anniversary. All good omens! Check in went quickly and we were on the ship by 2:15 PM and escorted to SS6060. We took a few minutes to look around the cabin and within 15 minutes our steward showed up with our luggage. We unpacked, relaxed and waited for the boat drill.

Our cabin:

Lougee1043: We were on the Rotterdam deck S7061 and it was an absolutely perfect location –a few feet from the midships elevators and even closer to the Neptune lounge. According to the Brochures the s cabins on the vista ships are smaller then the ones on the S class ships. Actually liked this layout a little better ---the bathroom in our cabin was to the right of the entryway as you come in the door-not through a doorway along side the bed as was on out last cruise- bathroom was more private ---dressing area did not have a sink in it but that didn’t seem important---double sinks and the Jacuzzi/tub/shower—in addition there was another shower stall that I used once but it was claustrophobic in size – similar to a toilet on the airplane

RandyK47: Our cabin was on the Upper Verandah deck almost amidships. Elevators were close enough but not right on top of us. Maybe by the luck of the draw or maybe by it’s placement we found the cabin to be very quiet and rarely heard our neighbors on either side or passage traffic. This was our first time in an SS category cabin. Prior cruises were in mini-suites or full suites. My best estimate is that an SS is a third again as large as a mini-suite and very well arranged. The bathroom is nice with double vanities, a Jacuzzi tub, and a shower. By the way, the shower is a bit of a waste…about the size of a phone booth and not all that comfortable to shower in. Drop the soap in there and you’re backing your bare backside half way across the bathroom to pick it up. After one try each we both switched to showering in the tub which worked just fine.

Lido:

Lougee1043: Didn’t eat very often in the lido because of jans not feeling well and what was available across the hall in the Neptune

RandyK43: Carey and I ate breakfast most morning and lunch a couple of times in the Lido. Took a little time to figure out the several stations but once we did it wasn’t all that hard to find what we wanted. Only a couple of times were we faced with long lines so getting what we wanted was not a problem. Seems they’d picked up the service in the Lido from previous cruises based on what I’ve read here but generally we had no problem finding a table. One thing…coffee….hard to get refills from the servers and not very good! Oh well….can’t have everything

Lifeboat drill:

Lougee1043: As usual with some people not attending which tends to delay the whole procedure.

RandyK47: About the same as Lougee1043. We were missing one or two couples but they eventually showed up and we got through it. Just one of those cruise things you’ve got to do.

Sail a way party:

Lougee1043: Great weather and all couples that had met on the internet showed up for face to face intros and that was nice because we kept running into each other on the ship or ashore

RandyK47: Sail away party with Lougee1043 and all the others was great. Fantastic sunset as we cleared the harbor and really started the adventure. Should add that Lougee and I had become pretty good email “friends” over the past month or so and joked about what would happen if we liked one another but the ladies didn’t get along. Would have hated to start the cruise with a divorce! J Actually, the ladies hit it right off and chatted a lot during the cruise.

Dinner-Vista:

Lougee1043: No first nite escorts to our tables a steward at the entry kept saying odd numbered table to the left and even numbered tables the right- after blundering around for a few minutes – the big white numbered signs that used to appear on the tables have been replaced with small triangular signs that you cant see unless you are standing right in front of it- we asked a waiter and preceded to lead us off in the wrong direction but a captain came to his rescue and we finally ended up at our table –very nice tablemates – 2 men from boston and a newly wed couple--------service the first nite was extremely slow and we found out that all of our cc couples felt the same way and that included the pinnacle—comment was also made of the lack of warmth from the European staff and after a week with them in the Neptune lounge I had to agree . / mentioned to our captain harry about the service and he assured us that it wouldn’t happen again – he checked on us several times a nite and the service improved after that our waiter was rachman and the wine steward was richardo– we were seated at table 69 – most of the tables at the windows were tables for 8 and most of the 6s were inside that circle – the dress up nites were tues-wed-thur- thought that was a little strange because the last day was a sea day and as I recall that was generally the last formal nite

RandyK47: Geez…you’d swear Lougee and I were on the same cruise…wait we were! Yep…no escort. Luckily we had table 71 which is a table for eight in the center and we found it quite quickly. Might note that Lougee and Jan were right next door at table 69. We also had great tables mates who turned into real friends over the next week. Two couples from Canada and a couple from Wisconsin. Ah service….I remember service…from a previous cruise, not this one. Drinks were hard to get, never got a chance for a second, and one night we arrived to find our wine already on the table and opened…..good thing we both wanted the beef dish that night or a good red wine would have been wasted. The food was generally good. A couple of the salads over the week had what my wife called “tired lettuce” but all in all not bad. Never did learn the names of our waiter, busboy or wine steward….didn’t see them enough. And for the first time on HAL I only briefly talked to only one of the senior staff in the dining room. At best I’d rate the service as uneven…sometimes acceptable, sometimes slow. Not at all what we expected or had experienced before on HAL.

Part 2

Neptune Lounge:

Lougee1043: A nice uncrowded hideaway --- always a nice variety of items available depending on the time of day ---gary and Rachel were of great help if you had a question or needed a last minute excursion ---they seemed to always have the answer and were very efficient. Imo the Europeans just seemed more interested in getting done with their shift with the least effort-- rather then make several trips back and forth from the cabin I asked one of them if there was a tray and was told that there wasn’t any ..so I got the basket that the laundry is delivered in and used that -- a while later I suggested to gary that there should be a few trays available and he suggested that I ask the steward for one and I told him that I had and had been informed that there were none-gary disappeared for a second and returned with one – that was the only negative thing that occurred in the Neptune

RandyK47: Not much to say here since we were in a SS category cabin. There have been other threads asking if this category got any specific considerations similar to the S or PS category rooms. The answer is simple….no, at least not things like access to the Neptune Lounge, priority tender passes, or special embarkation/disembarkation privileges. We had robes and personalized stationary. Nice but no big deal. Having been a full suite passenger on previous cruises I'd say it comes down to economics and an individual desire for a large stateroom. Can't say I felt like I missed much but certainly wouldn't have turned an upgrade down if offered. By the way, there were apparently no upgrades, at least at this level, offered on our cruise. There were signs at the check-in that announced that the cruise was sold out and that there would be no upgrades.

Half moon cay:

Lougee1043: Tendered ashore and we got a ride to our cabana ---we had blue and imo that was the one that was closest to the tenders –activities – restrooms and the food---we were given a ride to the cabana and when we got there –it was occupied by 6 people that simply wandered in because they got there before we did – the driver asked them to leave and they did so-

In our cabin was the cabana acknowledgement and the list we could beverages from – there was also beer on that list that I did not recall seeing on the cc board posts.—there was fresh vegetables and dips as well as fresh fruit –the cabana has a misting shower- a regular shower a/c and a fan—we invited all of the people we met on the cc board to drop in and have a beer or something –so we had company all day and that was really nice- there was no followup from anyone during the day and we really didn’t need anyone—some guy came walking up while there were five or 6 of us sitting around and asked it he could use the shower –couldn’t think of a diplomatic way to say no ---telling him that we payed for the privilege of having our own shower seemed to be a bit short so I said yes and we all sat around watching this stranger take a shower------------wrote down the colors of the other cabanas in order of closeness to all activities but I cant find it –I think orange was next and that pink was somewhere further down the line -----will try to rent one again on the next trip –one of the people that we met on line also booked a cabana and hal screwed up because the cabana was occupied when she got there and everyone’s documents were in order- so she left and spoke to the people on board and they refunded her money for the cabana –sent her a bottle of champagne and gave her all the excursions that she wanted to book at the next 3 ports for free ---now that’s customer service

RandyK47: Half Moon Cay was beautiful this trip. This is the third time we've been there and really enjoyed ourselves. Have to thank Lougee for a lot of that as we kind of camped out at their cabana for 99% of the time. The company was great and we enjoyed getting to know Lou and Jan better.

Sea day:

Lougee1043: Passed uneventfully except for both of us to go down and see the doctor who prescribed some antibiotics

RandyK47: A very nice sea day spent mostly relaxing at the aft pool chatting with new friends.

Room service:

Lougee1043: Jan had dinner in the room 3 nites in a row in order to be as well rested for the shore days-every meal delivered either had something missing or on one occasion was delivered with 2 different entrees and then another order showed up about 30 minutes later ---anything that was missing was promptly replaced –one nite the order was delivered and the waiter said he didn’t bring the dessert because he didn’t want it to melt-asked when he should deliver it and he showed up on time with a dessert that had not started melting --- thought that was service above and beyond

RandyK47: We used room service for early breakfast every morning….really my wife's required coffee transfusion each morning. Simply mark on a card what you want the next morning, the time you want it and hang it the outside door. Just make sure you mark exactly what you want and how many of each. One morning I marked a "2" for breakfast rolls, assuming that since the bottom of the form asks how many people in the cabin and I'd marked 2 I'd get a total of 4….wrong….got 2. Anyhow, other than my mistake that one morning everything was delivered as requested at the time requested. Good service

Part 3

Neptune Lounge:

Lougee1043: A nice uncrowded hideaway --- always a nice variety of items available depending on the time of day ---gary and Rachel were of great help if you had a question or needed a last minute excursion ---they seemed to always have the answer and were very efficient. Imo the Europeans just seemed more interested in getting done with their shift with the least effort-- rather then make several trips back and forth from the cabin I asked one of them if there was a tray and was told that there wasn’t any ..so I got the basket that the laundry is delivered in and used that -- a while later I suggested to gary that there should be a few trays available and he suggested that I ask the steward for one and I told him that I had and had been informed that there were none-gary disappeared for a second and returned with one – that was the only negative thing that occurred in the Neptune

RandyK47: Not much to say here since we were in a SS category cabin. There have been other threads asking if this category got any specific considerations similar to the S or PS category rooms. The answer is simple….no, at least not things like access to the Neptune Lounge, priority tender passes, or special embarkation/disembarkation privileges. We had robes and personalized stationary. Nice but no big deal. Having been a full suite passenger on previous cruises I'd say it comes down to economics and an individual desire for a large stateroom. Can't say I felt like I missed much but certainly wouldn't have turned an upgrade down if offered. By the way, there were apparently no upgrades, at least at this level, offered on our cruise. There were signs at the check-in that announced that the cruise was sold out and that there would be no upgrades.

Half moon cay:

Lougee1043: Tendered ashore and we got a ride to our cabana ---we had blue and imo that was the one that was closest to the tenders –activities – restrooms and the food---we were given a ride to the cabana and when we got there –it was occupied by 6 people that simply wandered in because they got there before we did – the driver asked them to leave and they did so-

In our cabin was the cabana acknowledgement and the list we could beverages from – there was also beer on that list that I did not recall seeing on the cc board posts.—there was fresh vegetables and dips as well as fresh fruit –the cabana has a misting shower- a regular shower a/c and a fan—we invited all of the people we met on the cc board to drop in and have a beer or something –so we had company all day and that was really nice- there was no followup from anyone during the day and we really didn’t need anyone—some guy came walking up while there were five or 6 of us sitting around and asked it he could use the shower –couldn’t think of a diplomatic way to say no ---telling him that we payed for the privilege of having our own shower seemed to be a bit short so I said yes and we all sat around watching this stranger take a shower------------wrote down the colors of the other cabanas in order of closeness to all activities but I cant find it –I think orange was next and that pink was somewhere further down the line -----will try to rent one again on the next trip –one of the people that we met on line also booked a cabana and hal screwed up because the cabana was occupied when she got there and everyone’s documents were in order- so she left and spoke to the people on board and they refunded her money for the cabana –sent her a bottle of champagne and gave her all the excursions that she wanted to book at the next 3 ports for free ---now that’s customer service

RandyK47: Half Moon Cay was beautiful this trip. This is the third time we've been there and really enjoyed ourselves. Have to thank Lougee for a lot of that as we kind of camped out at their cabana for 99% of the time. The company was great and we enjoyed getting to know Lou and Jan better.

Sea day:

Lougee1043: Passed uneventfully except for both of us to go down and see the doctor who prescribed some antibiotics

RandyK47: A very nice sea day spent mostly relaxing at the aft pool chatting with new friends.

Part 3 Ocho Rios -Jamaica Lougee1043: Took a bumpy bus ride of over an hour to marthas bray for the raft ride down river- very relaxing , peaceful and most enjoyable - toward the end of the ride the raft captain tried to sell us some hand carved gourds- we expressed no interest in buying any and he simply put them away-------none of the pushiness that I have read about at dunns falls or in the markets-----------this was our least favorite of the 3 stops RandyK47: This was a great stop. The ship tied up at the old Reynolds Pier so no tender ride. Carey and I did the swim with the dolphins and Dunn's River Falls climb in a combined shore excursion package. First of all, the swim with the dolphin was incredible. We got Calypso as our dolphin. You break up into groups and there were about 8 of us. It was still fairly early in the morning so climbing into the ocean was a bit of an adventure but the thrill of being in the water with a dolphin made us quickly forget that. You do have to wear a life vest (like a water skier's) so keeping afloat is not a problem. There was a bit of a current in the little enclosed bay so you did have to swim enough to hold your position. Spend about 30 minutes in the water with Calypso and got to touch her a couple of times and got a dolphin "kiss". They take the pictures and won't let cameras in with the dolphins but that's partly because of safety and partly (obviously) because they want to sell you the pictures. It was well, well worth it and one of our best moments and memories of the cruise. Highly recommend it. From there we went to Dunn's River Falls. Got hooked up with a group and a guide and off we went. Since we signed up over the internet we knew what we were in for and had brought our own water shoes. You can rent or buy water shoes at Dunn's River so you don't have to bring your own. Tennis shoes really aren't a good option because they'll probably get ruined and are pretty heavy once they get wet. The climb was fun but extremely crowded. We made it the whole 900 feet, partly because we were motivated and partly because we moved fairly slowly so we really didn't get tired. While not as much fun as the dolphin we're glad we did it. From there we caught a shuttle back to town and headed for Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. Very load but lots of fun. Had a couple of their margaritas and infamous cheeseburgers. Wow…..what a margarita! Easily walked back to the ship and boarded. Want to add here that HAL gives you a plastic ID card, like a credit card, and you use that to get off and on the ship. It works pretty slick and we never had any problem getting back on the ship at any stop. Grand Cayman: Lougee1043: Our major excursion =swimming with the stingrays was cancelled because of rough seas-we chose not to go to the turtle farm or hell based on comments made on this board -after talking with people who took the trip to hell I concluded that we made the right decision to pass that excursion up-walked through town and did a little shopping but generally took it easy,--small world - saw the courtesy clerk from our local safeway walking up the street with her husband RandyK47: No excursion here for us. This was our shopping port and that's what we did. I know for sure my wife had lots and lots and LOTS of fun here. This was a tender port and a rough day but got through it with no problem. Oh….this port can get really crowded. I counted 4 other major boats at anchor that day. They had to have dumped 8,000 to 10,000 people in the town. Add that to the other tourist and locals and it was a bit busy. Cozumel - Mexico: Lougee1043: Very busy day in port- we were docked at the pier closest to the center of town - there were 6 or 7 ships in at the same time so it was a bitcrowded---decided at the last minute to try and join the taste of cozumel and folkloric show- with a little help from the Neptune lounge we made it - the dance show is in a theatre located on the 2nd floor of a diamond mall ----very very interesting show, music and costumes - if you want to appreciate the diversity of the Mexican people their dance and music is a good way to experience it --- free drinks after the show and then a bus tour around the island - had a young interesting guide and it was and enjoyable 4hours --- had lunch at panchos backyard - cool and shady with excellent drinks and good food- my son wanted me to bring him a bottle of "real tequila" with a worm in it - after a bit of research I learned that worms come in bottles of mescal- a slightly stronger drink then tequila - found one called mr. Scorpion ----no worm just a scorpion - hope that will be "real enough" for him - the bottle of liquor was taken when we reboarded the ship - was given a receipt and the liquor was returned to my cabin the following afternoon RandyK47: This port was our other shore excursion adventure. Because of my interest in Egypt my wife thought I'd like to see Mayan ruins. She was right so we took the Tulum Mayan ruin tour. This tour is long, like the better part of 8 plus hours. Requires that you take a water taxi off the island to mainland Mexico. The ride is about 45 minutes and it was not a calm day. Thank goodness we'd gotten used to a little of that during the cruise however, not everybody was so lucky and we had at least one couple and their children who dropped out of the tour because the husband had gotten so sick on the way over. I have no idea how he got back and I didn't run into him during the rest of the cruise to see how he was doing. Last I saw him he had that "please shot me" green look so the bus ride to Tulum wasn't a good idea. Anyhow, Tulum is another 45 minutes or so away by bus. Great tour at the ruins with a guide. Had a small Subway sandwich, chips, and drink as part of the tour as there wasn't much time for a stop for food. After the ruins it was back on the bus and then the water taxi. Had about 45 minutes to kill before the water taxi ride so it was off to Senor Frog's for another margarita….hmm…I see a pattern here. Since we were in Cozumel until 11 PM we decided to eat in town near the ship and we tried Senior Frog's on that side. A bit noisy and active but kind of fun and they had great margaritas! Only port we bought liquor in and that was taken away from us when we boarded the ship and return Saturday night before disembarkation.

Part 4

 

Ship:

 

Lougee1043: My wife, the interior decorator, approved of all of the colors, appointments

etc of the ship and I as a dutiful husband agree.

 

I thought that the ships layout was familiar and a bit confusing at the same

time- more twists and turns in certain areas of the ship- imo the shopping

arcade was like a rats maze- I always buy a ships t shirt in blue or gray

with strips that has the name of the ship and a small hal logo on it ----not

stocked-replaced with what I considered inadequate replacements- oh well

that's just me---------also thought that the variety of items available were

less then was I saw in the past

RandyK47: The ship was beautiful and in great condition but, of course, it was only 6-7 months “old”. Carey and I have to agree with Lou, while familiar from our previous HAL cruises, it was a bit confusing. The shops were not well designed or laid out. Finding your way at times could be confusing as they added variety by adding the twists and turns Lou mentioned. After almost half of the cruise we kind of figured it out.

 

Lougee1043: Personally didn't like the layout of the casino- on the s ships the slots

are more toward one end of the casino with the other games at the other end-

on this ship the table games are in the center of the ring and are

surrounded with slots - thought the casino was a lot nosier then in the past

and the ventilation system left a lot to be desired as the smell of

cigarette smoke was overwhelming - you could smell it before you actually

entered the casino ----------also our favorite game of open face blackjack

was only available on one evening- so we left less money behind then we

usually do and maybe that was a good thing

RandyK47: Darn it Lou….you type first and then I feel like a parrot! OK, OK…Lou is right on here. The casino is not the best layout. Really like the “S” class layout better. However, the staff was friendly and it wasn’t a bad place to play table games or throw money at the slot machines. We didn’t play as much as we had on previous trips so we didn’t WIN as much. (Take that Lou!) Actually, the last night of the cruise we stopped in to break some larger bills for tips. Carey went to a quarter machine and I hit one of the dollar slots. In ten minutes time we both hit for more than enough to play all the tips we planned to hand out.

 

Lougee1043: Attended less of the shows then usual-- the show "escape" was in my opinion the one of the best revue shows if not the best that I have

seen -----------the back portion of the main show floor seats have limited

visibility because of the sloping seating area -the support columns and the

overhanging from the balcony seating

 

RandyK47: We couldn’t attend less than we normally do because we don’t go to the shows and stayed with that tradition this time. In other words, no comment.

 

 

 

Suites:

 

Lougee1043: Imo its like first class air travel over priced but nice if you want to

spring for the bucks- we have and will continue to do it in the future

because jan likes the extra space-

 

On the last nite all luggage have to be in the hallway by one am -as a suite

pax we don't have to put our luggage out til 5am--- since I didn't plan to

stay up that late just to take advantage of this benefit I put our stuff out

the same time as everyone else

RandyK47: We opted for an SS category cabin as the brochure and web made it look pretty nice. It was a great cabin and we were very comfortable. I could easily see taking a longer cruise in this “suite” without the slightest problem. The verandah was a nice size with two cushioned chairs and ottomans and a table with a couple of chairs. We could both be out on the verandah at the same time and not have to do any gymnastics to get around or pass one another.

 

Miscellaneous Observations:

 

Lougee1043: Overall it was an excellent cruise and I appreciated the experience of the

vista ship - I think that in the future where I have a choice of ships I

will choose an s class over a vista but I would not even consider canceling

a cruise because a vista was the only ship available

 

RandyK43: There you go again Lou! Yes, it was an excellent cruise. Certainly the Vista class ships are very nice. However, like that other person, Carey and I prefer the smaller “S” class ships. Would we cruise on a “V” class again? Absolutely.

 

Debarking:

 

Lougee1043: We hung out in the Neptune lounge after breakfast because they wanted the rooms cleard by 8 am-only time we saw the Neptune lounge standing room only-

everyone had to be off the ship by 10am- we took a cab to the fll airport

and sat around til our 2pm departure which left late - had about 30 min to

make a plane change in Chicago and then the plane took off 90 min late

because of a rain storm--- all planes were fully loaded and food is now

being sold on them----arrived in Portland about 45 min late and completely

shot

RandyK47: We actually were allowed, in fact, encouraged to stay in our cabin. After breakfast we went back to our room and just relaxed for an hour talking about what a great time we’d had. It was nice to have the quiet time together to soak in the last few minutes of a great time. Because HAL had us on a fairly early flight we didn’t really wait that long. Getting off the ship, finding our baggage, and getting transported to the airport went very well. The airline was well organized with a separate setup for cruise customers. All of our tickets and luggage tags were preprinted and waiting for us. Couldn’t have taken 5 minutes to check in! From there on out the flights were on time and we arrived back in San Antonio at 4:30 PM.

 

NEGATIVE COMMENT

 

Lougee1043: I found out today that my broker sent me an email on wed 3/23 that was NEVER delivered to my cabin - have written to hal and am waiting for a response

 

RandyK47: Gosh Lou….I didn’t get an email from my broker either….of course I don’t have one so maybe that’s the problem. Doubt HAL would help me out there. OK…my biggest complaint is the slippage in service on HAL. Having not been on a cruise for several years we really noticed it. In talking to our room steward we got some idea why it had slipped. He said he’d gone from having to take care of 9 rooms to 12 in the SS category. When he worked the mini-suites they gave him 17 instead of the previous 12. A little math and that sounds like a 30% cut in staff. It shows!!! Our room steward apologized and said he liked to spend a lot more time with his guests but just couldn’t.

 

INTERESTING COMMENT

 

Lougee1043: There were 6 couples that met on the cruise boards and 2 of them split the

snowball jackpot by winning within 50 numbers - 2 people completing the

board within 50 numbers imagine that

RandyK47: Made eight, great new friends on this trip and we’re already planning to maybe cruise with several of them again. Cruising is so great!!!!

[FlorenceItaly]

We just returned yesterday and I'm busy just now running laundry and trying to regain my land legs. I'll post my thoughts within the next couple of days, but for now, suffice it to say that we had a fabulous cruise!:D

 

 

Welcome Home!! Please, please write something before I leave next Saturday. Thank you :).

 

The other Marie

[Copper10-8]

Very cool and interesting Lougee and Randy! You don't see that everyday! Enjoyed it:)

[MikeT718]

Very cool and interesting Lougee and Randy! You don't see that everyday! Enjoyed it:)

 

Yes it was intresting but This is a MS Oosterdam thread and I know right now the Oosterdam is in the Pacfic doing mexico so it could have not been to HMC

 

Great Review style but which ship???:confused:

[FlorenceItaly]

the review was about, but when it was doing the Caribbean itinerary.

 

 

 

Marie

[sanibelsandals]

Returned home late last night fomr 3/4-11 cruise...NJ warmer than last 2 days at sea! Will post a review mid week once I catch up on work & laundry. Little bit of rocking & rolling today, need to get those land legs back.

 

WONDERFUL CRUISE!

[Gardendog]

We just returned yesterday and I'm busy just now running laundry and trying to regain my land legs. I'll post my thoughts within the next couple of days, but for now, suffice it to say that we had a fabulous cruise!:D

 

So did we. I see that you made it back safely. I still have sea legs.

 

This poster and I met at one of the functions on board, very fun.

[Copper10-8]

Yes it was intresting but This is a MS Oosterdam thread and I know right now the Oosterdam is in the Pacfic doing mexico so it could have not been to HMC

 

Great Review style but which ship???:confused:

 

Good eyes, Mike but he did start of with: "not the latest report but you might find this interesting AAAAACARIBREPORT

";)

[Boatdrill]

Just FYI - The Oosterdam is currently under charter so you may not read anything for this week's trip.

[FlorenceItaly]

Lucky for us, CarolineinToronto posted earlier LIVE from the Oosterdam. They are having rough seas. You are correct this week is a charter sail, the Stampin Up Group, I believe.

 

 

Marie