LIVE from the Oosterdam - Oct 11, 2008

[nobbync]

Hello Everyone.... Not quite live from the Oosterdam yet....

 

Twas the night before the cruise, when all through the house,

Everyone was stirring, even the mouse

The bags were hung by the door with care

In hopes that MS Oosterdam soon would be there…

 

That’s how I feel the night before the Oosterdam Mexican Riviera cruise. It feels like Christmas… This is my second time on Oosterdam which is my favorite ship. I have had better overall cruises, because of where we went, but as for the ship itself, this is the best. This is also a first for me to be on the same ship twice.

 

I will try to post daily and if anyone has questions feel free to ask. We have a huge roll call on this cruise and I look forward to meeting everyone that I have chatted with for the past 9 months or so. If anyone wants to add reports feel free to do so. It is finally here and I am ready to go despite the tropical storms and hot and humid weather.

 

My last cruise was the MS Zaandam exactly one year ago as some of you may remember my cruise report. I am not sure how I ended up sailing on Oct 11th again but it is a good way to celebrate again one year later. Just like last year my cruise buds Cindy from Atlanta and my mom are with me. We have cabin 5117 and I’ll tell you what I think about it tomorrow.

 

We’ll see some of you at the 3 pm webcam wave and then we’ll all be partying in Cathy’s room in one of the great corner aft balcony rooms as we sailaway…to another world...

 

Nobby

[earl_m]

Thanks for taking the time to tell us about your cruise.

Hope you have a great one!!!

[nobbync]

Thanks for taking the time to tell us about your cruise.

Hope you have a great one!!!

 

Thanks... I certainly can't sleep....

 

Nobby

[Krazy Kruizers]

Well be looking forward to your reports.

[GTVCRUISER]

I will be on the Oosterdam Dec. 6 , 2008 , have a great cruise!!

[MeLuvDaSea]

...those evil twins, Hurricane Norbert and TS Odile? I have been counting the days for about 1 year. Finally, Oct. 18th is almost upon us and these weather events are taking place.

 

I don't know about you, nobbync, but we will miss Norbert. You might not. I am very concerned about Odile. Can anyone tell me what is likely to happen? I am soooo worried today.

[DesertDogs]

Nobby - We followed your report from Hawaii last year and now we are getting ready for our Zaandam cruise to Hawaii in 11 days. Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures and we look forward to more.

 

Enjoy your cruise and watch out for the Hurricane!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Oh Nobby I am so glad that you will be reporting in :D

Talk about adding fuel to my excitement of being on the Oosterdam NEXT Saturday ;) This way you can fill us ALL in as to what the Oosterdam will be doing for the new season such as....Are they having the almost always dreaded Chef's Dinner:confused: and Has the Pinnacle started the new Menu's?

Today is such an exciting day and we kick it off with the First Oosterdam Web Cam Banner Wave of the Season

[nobbync]

Hello Everyone... Thanks for the well wishes and coments... Up in the morning now and just anxiously waiting... I am sure all my cruise buddies staying at the HI are siting on their balconies enjoying their coffee and watching the Oosterdam. Looks like Odile will be heading out to sea and might even miss us in PV... :)

 

MeLuvDaSea - Don't let those storms cause you any worries. We have no control over them but you can be sure the Captain will not send you in the middle of them so it's a vacation, enjoy it... Enjoy the waiting for your turn... Hope the seas are as smooth as it was for us.

 

DesertDogs - You lucky Dog! When I went to the HI on Saturday to visit with Cathy and Frank the Zaandam was right there. Wish I was on it but you'll realy enjoy the Hawaii cruise. I just loved the 5 days at sea each way.

 

Lisa - I will try to answer everything for you so you can all enjoy next week. You all have a great group of people as well and it looks like fun and I look forward to hearing about your cruise. It will extend ours...

 

Well everyone, I have to do a few things and I will see you all at the webcam wave at 3 pm... I am ready to go...

 

Nobby

[marcyjane]

You are so nice to report on the Oosterdam and your cruise.

I have a long wait to board the Osterdam,(August 2009) but read the boards and gathering all the info I can on the Oosterdam. I can't wait to hear all you will have to report on the Oosterdam.

Hope you have a wonderful cruise and take lots of photo's of the Oosterdam for those of us that have yet to be on board so we will know what to look forward too.

Thanks and happy sailing:D

Marcy

[jimgev]

I'm excited for you. We will be on the big O next month on the November 15 sailing. Have a great time. We'll be reading your reports with anticipation.

Jim

[jbhcw]

Hi Nobby!!! I'm so glad you're doing a LIVE thread, and to make it that much better we're cruising with ya:D We are in our room doing last minutes things, how wonderful it is to just look out on the balcony to our ship:)

 

Even dh is excited about the BANNER WAVE!!! Looking forward to a great cruise and hope the seas are not too rough tonight:eek:

 

We do have a great group of cruisers going, can't wait to meet everyone at the Banner Wave, then at Cathy's sailaway party!!

 

Let the fun begin:) :)

[waASPCrusier]

Alright Nobby :) Thanks for getting us started....we were out on Harbor this morning at 6am....missed the Oosterdam coming in but did see the Radiance pulling in next to her. Only a couple more hours and we will head to the terminal to start the fun :D Next up 3pm wave :)

 

Tayo and Kristy

[Cathys Cruising]

Good morning Nobby & all! I watched the Oosterdam come in this morning. We're on the 12th floor of the HI and can see directly into the bridge, it's soooo close. :D I have the banner, wine & champagne - we're ready to cruise!!!!

Cathy

["Wandering Wino's&quo]

Hello Everyone... Thanks for the well wishes and coments... Up in the morning now and just anxiously waiting... I am sure all my cruise buddies staying at the HI are siting on their balconies enjoying their coffee and watching the Oosterdam. Looks like Odile will be heading out to sea and might even miss us in PV... :)

 

MeLuvDaSea - Don't let those storms cause you any worries. We have no control over them but you can be sure the Captain will not send you in the middle of them so it's a vacation, enjoy it... Enjoy the waiting for your turn... Hope the seas are as smooth as it was for us.

 

DesertDogs - You lucky Dog! When I went to the HI on Saturday to visit with Cathy and Frank the Zaandam was right there. Wish I was on it but you'll realy enjoy the Hawaii cruise. I just loved the 5 days at sea each way.

 

Lisa - I will try to answer everything for you so you can all enjoy next week. You all have a great group of people as well and it looks like fun and I look forward to hearing about your cruise. It will extend ours...

 

Well everyone, I have to do a few things and I will see you all at the webcam wave at 3 pm... I am ready to go...

 

Nobby

 

Another "Winer" checking in. I'm with Lisa on next weeks cruise aboard the Oosterdam. Looking forward to hearing all your reports.

Shirley

[MeLuvDaSea]

I'm so glad I found this thread. Thanks Nobby for weighing in on Odile. I will take your advice and just relax. We are arriving in San Diego on Thursday morning, and are staying in the HI. Next saturday will be our turn to sail away aboard the Oosterdam, and I must say I am very excited about it.

 

Me

[travellady]

I'm looking forward to reading this as I prepare for next week's Oosterdam cruise. Nothing like a live thread to wet one's appetite!

[slabeaume]

I'll be on the Oosterdam in 2 weeks for the first time. It'll be nice getting first hand info so close to my cruise time. Thanks!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Hey Nobby or anyone else in your Roll Call It looks like a crowd waiting to check in:D

Lot of very excited cruisers I am sure:)

[Williebill]

We wish everyone a safe and fun cruise!!

Bill

[Travalerie]

I hope you are having a nice cruise. Can you tell me what movies are playing?

[slabeaume]

I hope you are having a nice cruise. Can you tell me what movies are playing?

 

 

I would like to know that, too. Thanks

[nobbync]

All I can start with was today was an overall incredible day. Taxi picked us up at 10:45 am and we were dropped off at the terminal by 11:10. The check in was a bit crowded as the Radiance of the Seas was also in. This time the terminal wasn’t so organized but not that bad. Taxi’s were not allowed to pull in so we had to get dropped off in front and lug our bags in. The porters were few and far between so we lugged our bags all the way to the check in area and porters were there to take your bags. Hope it’s not like this anytime there are 2 or more ships in. Once we got through that things started to pick up and it went fast. We were in group 9 and were on by about 12:15 where we headed for the lido deck for lunch.

 

A nice thing they did have was a baggage check in area in the lido pool area to drop off your carry on bags and you just pick them up when the rooms are ready. I don’t remember ever seeing that before but who knows, maybe they did have this and I just didn’t care.

 

The lido was fully open and we went and picked up our food and had a nice lunch as we watched the Radiance of the Seas next door. Of course for dessert I had to have the bread pudding and it was delicious as usual. I had a grilled veggie sandwich (to balance out the bread pudding) that was great. Once we got done with that we went over to the spa to pick up the thelosatherapy pool and thermal suite package. It is $150 per person or $250 for two so Cindy and I got this package. I am looking forward to spending time in that pool area as it is so comfortable sitting in that pool. .

 

By now it was time to to go to the bow of the ship for the webcam wave. When we got there a few were already there. It was great to finally meet many of the roll call friends that we chatted with for all these months. Hope the webcam wave was a success and you all got to see us waving and captured our smiling faces….

 

Next up was the lifeboat drill which was the same as usual and then it was sailaway time. Cathy and Dan invited us to a CC sailaway party in one of the aft corner verandah rooms and it was really nice and huge. I will have to start saving to get a room like that for the next time. It was great to talk to everyone as we sailed out to sea. The weather was just beautiful and the company was even better. I look forward to spending more time with all these great people. We have a party scheduled for 2 pm which Cathy will be happy I remembered the right time…

 

This time we had As You Wish dining and it was my first time using it and I liked it. We came to dinner about 7:30 and were seated almost immediately at a table for the 3 of us. Service was good and the food was superb. Cindy and I had the prime rib and it was really good and tender. Mom had the salmon which she loved. The Pepper Pot Soup was outstanding. The coffee cheesecake with vanilla black walnut ice cream was as good as it gets. Tonight we are skipping the show and maybe Cindy and I will catch the movie Iron Man which plays tonight in the Queens lounge at 10:15 tonight. On second thought we may skip the movie as the clocks go ahead an hour tonight.

 

So far the seas are somewhat smooth but just rocking enough to get a good nights sleep. Well that’s it for tonight and I may be headed out to the verandah and may drift off to sleep out there with the sea going by. Or maybe the midnight buffet is calling…

 

Nobby

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for checking in.

 

This disturbs me about the taxi's not being allowed into the terminal area to drop off people and luggage. We have always been dropped off inside.

 

There is no way we could lug 4 suitcases, 2 carry-ons and a back pack and a big purse.

 

Guess we won't sail out of San Diego anymore if this new practice continues.

[Northshorecruisers]

Nobby - I'm so happy to hear you are on board and reporting this week.

We also sail on the "Winers Cruise" next Saturday with Lisa (Laffnvegas) and Shirley (Wandering Winos), and a lot of other really fun people.

It's going to be great reading your posts as we wait for this week to pass and we board the Oosterdam on the 18th.

Thanks for doing this - you have just made our cruise more wonderful and exciting!

 

Deb