Lazy Waltz to Spain Onboard the Oosterdam April 5-19th

[VMax1700]

11 hours ago, Ready2go11 said:

I thought it was a 6 hour difference to East Coast US but this would indicate only 5 

There is 6 hour difference between Mainland Europe (CET) and East Coast USA.

Europe is +1 hour ahead of us in Ireland and it is currently:

Ireland 10.03 am

Malaga 11.03am

Fort Lauderdale 5.03 am

So there will be a further hour lost.

Our clocks, including Europe, went forward one hour on 31st March. Perhaps the cheat sheet was prepared just before the time change.

[Ready2go11]

@VMax1700 thanks, that makes sense. I knew there had to be a discrepancy.
 

I was glad to read Spain is all in one time zone so after losing 6 hours at least we stay there when we start day after day ports. 

[Ready2go11]

Sunday 4/7 - We lost our first hour overnight and with that change I did not wake up until 8am!  I never sleep even until 7am adjusting for time change.  My sister had even gotten up, dressed and out to church service and I heard nothing.  I love sleeping to the rocking of the ship.

 

The Lido at 8:20am was again quiet, although it started to get a bit busier as we were leaving a little before 9am.

 

We spent the day sailing south of Bermuda with high temps in the upper 60s.  Cooler than yesterday but very pleasant. We saw some whitecaps early in the day, but as we got closer to the Sargasso Sea things calmed.

 

At the Coffee Talk with entertainer Michelle (from the show last night), she continued to be funny as she discussed her career start and making fun of her divorce and life events.  She speaks several languages and noted this is not so much work for her, because this is “her” and not a persona for stage.  Michelle noted she has been on board ships since January 2024 and is getting off in May before another 45 month stint later this year.  The schedule is grueling since she has to fly from ship to ship, and work with a different band on each ship.  She shared she keeps her voice in shape by not smoking, rarely drinking alcohol, and getting lots of sleep and quiet time.

 

Next, we attended the cooking demonstration in the Rolling Stone lounge.  It looked like the Americas Test Kitchen cooking station (and may have been) behind a curtain with two screens showing what the chef was doing. Executive Chef Oliver was making the Pinnacle crab cakes.

 

The chef noted there are 140 people working in the kitchen from cooks and bakers to dishwashers.  When Karlijn asked how he managed that large staff and thousands of meals a day and still have time to do the cooking demonstrations, he joked “because you didn’t give me a choice.”  At first it sounded like he was serious but in chatting it was clear he had quite the sense of humor.  Although you do not get to taste the end result, the smells as he was cooking made you want to book a Pinnacle lunch.  A good advertisement and I am sure crab cake orders will rise.  They did hand out a card with the recipe.

 

During this session, C&TD Karlijn narrated and noted she worked as a waitress in the Pinnacle Grill years ago.  That reminded me to mention she just got on the ship in Florida, as did many of the other crew.

Edited April 8 by Ready2go11

[Ready2go11]

4.6 daily

4.6 daily 

4.8 daily

4.8 daily

Pinnacle crab cake menu

dressy dinner menu

dining room lunch menu

Edited April 8 by Ready2go11

[Ready2go11]

4/8 quick update.  Today is eclipse day.  The Captain noted yesterday that we would only be able to see about 28% (I think is what I recall) since we are east of the full eclipse path.  The viewing where we are on ship will be around 5:30pm.

[mawvkysc]

This is so helpful!
 

How windy does it feel on deck or balcony? 
 

The lunch menu seems simpler than the ones I’ve seen posted just months ago.  Hmm

[Ready2go11]

the rest of Sunday

 

Next was a talk on Columbus and how little we actually know about his life and travels.  The presenter (the wife of another presenter on board) acknowledged his murky employment for pirates and others with poor intentions.  While noting that her information was what is believed today, she shared details about his family, maps at the time, where he likely visited, how unpopular he was and other miscellaneous info.  A tad dry but very informative.

 

We went to the dining room for lunch.  Liked that it was a different menu than the recent experiences we’ve had with the set menu that did not change day-to-day.  However, they were only using a set number of tables and at 12:30 there was a line and you had to wait until a table was available.  By checking my cheat sheet, I saw the Lido special lunch event was paella.  Turned out to be a very good thing.  They offered seafood paella and a chicken and sausage version. It was well seasoned and very good.

 

After lunch we attended our included Mariner wine tasting- wines of Europe.  There was a half glass of sparking wine and then two whites and two reds with a small plate of cheese, chutney, and fruit  to accompany.  Although I did not personally care for the selections, host sommelier Felipe was very informative and we met some very nice people we were seated with.

 

Pre-nap we stopped in to afternoon tea, featured as Indonesian. Each day they have tea, there is a special theme.  Looking ahead they include French, Dutch, Queen Elizabeth and cupcake teas.

 

I have been making some more contributions to the casino.  I view it as entertainment and my lowly status of receiving some discounts on cruises (have not reached free cabins yet) has more than paid for any losses since I started playing 2 years ago.  I have researched cruises by not logging in, and then comparing the price after logging in and the difference has been sizeable.  

 

Tonight was out first dressy dinner.  My sister has been enjoying the fish and had the mahi mahi and despite my waiter’s discouragement, I had the cauliflower steak.  He repeatedly said, you know it is not steak.  I just wanted something lighter and it was very tasty. 

 

Dinner was slower again because there were more diners in the dining room because of the dressy menu.  They were bringing any time dining guests upstairs to fixed dining area as the downstairs was full. 

 

A service challenge is that there is a language barrier.  Many of the servers are harried and hear part of what you want, but do not write anything down and you sometimes get something different than you ordered.  We usually point to a menu or have them repeat the item.  This is especially helpful when ordering wine since you say for instance I want a Dream Rose and they reply okay a rose and it is not the brand you ordered.  It has happened when ordering red and white wine as well.  Again, seems to happen because servers are responsible for too many tables.  They are very hard working!

 

After dinner we attended the first Step One Dance performance “Move.”  The dancers are very talented, but some of the numbers have odd choreography.  The show was very lightly attended.  They schedule the second show for 9pm and the late fixed dining is almost never complete by then.

 

Another music option added today was Third Avenue West.  They played in the Ocean Bar and another venue and play what I would call lounge music.  Enjoyable to listen to, especially if you are having a drink and chatting.

 

The Chordial Chamber Trio did a matinee yesterday.  We did not attend but heard from other guests that they were very good.

 

What may have been the most enjoyable of all day, as we were going to bed around 11pm, our room was flooded with the smell of fresh baked bread.  Not sure hoe it got to us through the vents, but it was a great smell to fall asleep to.

[Ready2go11]

29 minutes ago, mawvkysc said:

How windy does it feel on deck or balcony? 

 

There is some breeze, but it has not been too windy at all.  We have enjoyed our walks around deck 3 even more because the breeze is cooling but not cold.

[Ready2go11]

4.8 dinner menu

4.8 dinner menu

 

aft view from bench

brunch menu

brunch drinks menu

Columbus talk was well attended

Indonesian tea- top tier changes according to the theme of the day

top tier of Indonesian tea

wine tasting set up

Edited April 8 by Ready2go11

[Ready2go11]

 

cooking demonstration in Rolling Stone Lounge

 

Stowaway who came out last night.  I read is some prior post how grasshoppers boarded in South American and the Amazon.  Since our ship just came from the south perhaps this one has survivied so far. 

 

 

Does anyone one know the function of this just inside our cabin door?  We are thinking it is a motion detector???

Edited April 8 by Ready2go11

[cruzingnut]

39 minutes ago, Ready2go11 said:

 

cooking demonstration in Rolling Stone Lounge

 

Stowaway who came out last night.  I read is some prior post how grasshoppers boarded in South American and the Amazon.  Since our ship just came from the south perhaps this one has survivied so far. 

 

 

Does anyone one know the function of this just inside our cabin door?  We are thinking it is a motion detector???

 

It's a flashlight of sorts.  If you can pry it out of the wall, that is.

 

Linda R.

[VMax1700]

2 hours ago, Ready2go11 said:

Does anyone one know the function of this just inside our cabin door?

I think it is emergency lighting in the event of a major power failure.

[Kay S]

Thanks for this.  We will be doing this cruise in reverse next year (also on Odam.)  We have done transatlantics before but not on HAL.  We do HAL to Mexico periodically, so we are familiar with this ship.  

[Ready2go11]

I have not mentioned our room stewards Rony and Wayan but they are stealthy.  We occasionally see them in the hall and they always ask of we need anything, but they are great about taking care of everything when we are out and about.

 

Coffee chat on Monday was Food & Beverage Manager Jonathan.  He reported:

·        He is responsible for approximately 300 people.

·        7 day cruises are easy because they have so much data on guest behavior it facilitates planning for food and beverage,

·        It is much more difficult for longer and specialty cruises like this one, as guest behaviors vary so much on longer cruises and supplies are not as easy to obtain.

·        Post pandemic when it was harder to source supplies, they started transitioning more to local products.  The issue with that is that the same product, say honey mustard, tastes different in Southern America than it does in North America.

·        Cultural differences among nationalities also makes it challenging.  Americans like to eat earlier and be served faster.  Europeans

·        Loaded more than a $1 million in food on Friday. 

·        $600,000 in beverages

·        $600,000 in supplies- table ware, napkins etc.

·        The stock up was because they had not been in America for months (the ship was in South America) and they needed to stock up for summer in Europe while they could get certain products.

 

·        A few days later they are still unpacking and stocking bars and restaurants.  Apparently the creamer for coffee is still buried since a few guests at the chat complained there has not been any.

 

·        Head office plans all menus, but ships can adjust when needed.

 

During the talk Karlijn shared she got on board the ship at 4:30pm on the day of sailing.  So the delays in leaving because they were loading helped her.  She was supposed to fly in the day before but bad weather caused cancellations and delays.

 

After the chat while waiting for brunch, we did some laps around the deck.  Although I miss many things about the Pinnacle class ships, I appreciate the wider decks and we make good use of them almost everyday when on board.

 

We really enjoyed brunch.  Since we did not get up until 8am after losing another hour last night, we did not eat breakfast and joined the brunch line at 9:50am just before the 10am start time.  The line got very long and was still present (although shorter) when we left the dining room.  Brunch was held until 12:30 so plenty of time and line may have been much less later after those like us who couldn’t wait had already finished.

 

We enjoyed the burrata and fruit plate.  The fruit plate was so attractively presented.  Mains were forest mushroom crepes and smashed avocado toast.  I was very impressed with how perfect the poached egg was given they were serving hundreds of diners in a short period of time.  My sister had dessert Poffertjes.  They were not at all like the ones we have enjoyed at the Grad Dutch Café in other ships. They had too much baking soda and were basically pancake batter served with syrup and melted butter.  We much refer the lighter Dutch Café version that are served with butter syrup and powdered sugar,  The best part may have been the drinks cart that went around the dining room with fresh made featured drinks served tableside.  On offer were Bloody Marys, Mimosas and Pamplemousse (grapefruit) Martini.  The martini was very good made with gin and we will order that again as we have seen it on other menus,

 

We tried to attend the talk at 11am on the islands of the Atlantic but the main stage was pretty full, very surprising given how many people seemed to be at brunch.

 

On the way to deck 3 for some laps around the deck, we passed the third and final Mariners reception in the Rolling Stone lounge.  Again, a good crowd but not crowded and several officers were mingling with the crowd.  We have only seen the Captain once at dinner last night when he made his way around the dining room since late fixed dining could not attend his Captain’s welcome but we are happy to see so many officers out and about and friendly when they see you.

 

I purchased a bundle of 3 hair wash and blow outs for $129 at the spa.  I hurt my arm and blow drying my hair has been difficult.  This was a rare find in that the spa price is less than I would pay at home.  The stylist did a nice job and included a very relaxing scalp and shoulder massage and I have two more appointments scheduled.  It is nice to be pampered!

[FLCruiser97]

On 4/8/2024 at 11:41 AM, mawvkysc said:

This is so helpful!
 

How windy does it feel on deck 

I too am on this sailing and to answer the question, in the Lido pool area because it has a retractable roof, it is very comfortable with zero wind and a pleasant temperature considering this morning was 69 degrees outside. Our balcony is on the port side and this afternoon as I began to read out there, I had to quickly get my jacket on as it was rather chilly but still no wind.

[Ready2go11]

4.9 daily program

4.9 daily program page 1

 

4.8 dinner menu page 1

 

 

4.9 lunch menu

Edited April 9 by Ready2go11

[FLCruiser97]

Not wanting to steal your thread @Ready2go11 but just a few observations so far. The cabins are smaller than other cruise ships that I have been on but balconies and bathrooms are significantly larger. We ate in the MDR on night 2 and waited in line for 35 minutes for a table. That was probably our fault for waiting until 645pm to go to anytime dinner. Food was good. I had the red snapper and DH had the steak. We really enjoyed both dishes. 

[Ready2go11]

brunch fruit plate.  Looked even more beautiful in person.

Smashed avocado toast at brunch

Brunch burrata

almost always empty deck chairs on deck 10- highly recommend!

 

strangest food item on board- hot dogs with onions and blueberries at the Lido

pamplemousse martini at brunch and on Billboard menu.  Very good!

Edited April 9 by Ready2go11

[FLCruiser97]

We ate in Canaletto for night 3 and the special on the menu was the scallops. Delicious and cooked to perfection. DH had the spaghetti and clams which he liked as well. Last night we ate in Pinnacle Grill. I had the lamb chops. They were huge and oh so tender. DH had the Ribeye steak which was just as tender. I am a little disappointed in the Dive-In chicken sandwich. I had that today and it was very tough and I could not finish it. The milkshakes were a bit too thin but before anyone asks...they were included with our EBP.  

[FLCruiser97]

Our cabin steward, Aris, just told us that we will be moving clocks ahead one hour again tonight. 

[Ready2go11]

A stop at the Lido bar yesterday revealed a bartender, Rex, making milkshakes and handing them out.  They were outstanding!  We plan to go back another day and make it adult with some Kahlua.

 

Dinner on Monday evening was uneventful although service has continued to be uneven.  Again, the servers are working very hard but always seem overwhelmed. I had the lasagna for dinner.  If you really like Italian food I would not recommend it.  The sauce had very muted flavor and it contains a lot of ground beef.  Like so much that I had at least a 1/3 pound left on my plate after I ate the multi layered noodles.  Not like Mama would make.  This is an every day menu item and could use improvement to be a menu staple.  Overall, desserts on the ship are good but not great.  However, overall non-dessert food quality if above average and beautifully plated.  Food and Beverage Director Jonathan is seen walking around the Lido and dining room often, which is a credit to him.

 

I also forgot to mention that after the first dressy night on Sunday, the Yum Yum Lady was out front of the dining room serving candied ginger, mints and figs.  I know I am glad they brought back this tradition, at least a few times each cruise.

 

After dinner entertainment started with 20 minutes of the Chordial Chamber Trio.  They played famous classics and although I am not a die hard classical music fan, it very much enjoyed the part of the show I saw.

 

We left that show early in the Main Stage to head over to the Rolling Stone, where Michelle Montouri was playing a “bonus” show.  The venue was standing room only and they brought in folding chairs which quickly filled up as more and more people arrived.  Her first show was so enjoyable, she has a following on ship with her amazing vocal range and ability to make anyone laugh.  She sang the Beatles, Amy Winehouse, Robby Williams, LeeAnn Rhimes and LaBamba among others.  We are looking forward to her next show as we know she is staying on until Barcelona.

 

Weather and Ship Movement

The first two days of the cruise had some movement but it was generally calm.  On Monday and so far Tuesday we have been rocking more.  Not horrible but you can feel the ship moving side to side, to the extent it can feel like you are walking uphill.

Other than some spotty rain on Monday afternoon and early evening, the weather has been partly sunny to sunny with temps at sea in the upper 60s to low 70s during the day.  There has been some breeze but not what I would call windy on the ship.  It is very pleasant to be outside.

[Ready2go11]

Despite no time change last night, it seemed even harder to get up this morning.  We ate only a light breakfast since it was almost 9am and we had Pinnacle lunch coming up at 12:15pm.

We missed the morning chat with Carlijn, but did hear her talk at 10am regarding myths of the Mediterranean.   It was an interesting talk held at the main stage, and well attended, featuring a Greek Woman marathoner and an MIT student and later professor who aimed to build a human powered plane.

 

After this we attended our first event at the Art Studio doing modern brush lettering, a form of calligraphy.  Sheets were provided to practice each letter of the alphabet.  The instructor shared some background and the instructor walked around the room checking in on participants.  The art events like calligraphy and water coloring are held twice per day (same class each day) and the room is small as it only holds about 20-25 people, just off the main part of the Crows Nest.

 

Next was lunch at the Pinnacle.  We had the same wait team, pulled from the dining room staff until April 11^th we learned as the usual Pinnacle staff were training for the first ever Morimoto pop up on the Oosterdam.  That dinner will be held the evening of the stop at Ponta Delgado on April 12.  We have reservations for that dinner at 7pm and we are looking forward to it but also a tad nervous since it will be new to all onboard except for three chefs onboard to train the Oosterdam team.

 

Lunch included starters of carpaccio and crab cakes, both as good as we remembered from prior lunches and we both enjoyed the filet with blue cheese sauce as a main.  Dessert was interesting.  I ordered the coconut lime trifle with pistachio and my sister had the berries with sabayon.  The trifle had chocolate hazelnut  mousse with a middle layer that had too much gelatin and was not coconut.  The top layer was more chocolate with gelatin.  No lime and no pistachio.  At least I saved calories by not eating much of it.  The berries were presented in napolean style with thin wafers between which was good, but the sabayon consisted of runny egg yolks, nothing like the creamy whipped lemon colored sauce it is supposed to be.  We think they forgot to whip the egg yolks.  I am sharing a photo so you can see the cooking fail.  The drinks and service were outstanding as they were at our first Pinnacle lunch on Sunday.

[Ready2go11]

the berry part of the Pinnacle dessert was a hit

the accompanying sauce, not so much.

Edited April 9 by Ready2go11

[oakridger]

@Ready2go11 I'm enjoying your detailed and balanced reports!  Thanks to @FLCruiser97 for adding your experiences as well.

 

I would have ordered the fruit with Sabayon myself, but you are right.... that's no proper Sabayon they gave you!  Ackkk, it does look like raw egg yolks!!  Reminds me of the time on Rotterdam that I think they tried to make homemade sour cream for the quesadillas.  It turned out like curdled milk!  😲

 

~Nancy

[QuattroRomeo]

10 hours ago, Ready2go11 said:

strangest food item on board- hot dogs with onions and blueberries at the Lido

Definitely odd! I'm trying to imagine it as a combination, but just seems weird..🤪