Oostradam Cruie Alaska August 15 2010 Thoughts

[Manastash]

My wife and I decided to celebrate her birthday this year on an Alaska cruise. We researched various cruise lines and decided to use Holland America Cruise Lines (HAL). I talked with several cruise lines and the representatives at HAL were more professional. They were not willing to compare their cruise line to the other cruise lines. While other cruise lines didn’t really talk dirt about the other cruise lines they did compare themselves. Internet is expensive onboard the ship we are hoping to pick up some hotspots when we go into port. This cruise has stops in Glacier Bay, Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan and Victoria, BC.

[Manastash]

Holland America shares the pier with the Princes cruise lines. The Oostradam (HAL) and Princes Sapphire were both in dock. The Sapphire is a larger ship, Holland advertizes that their ships were specially designed to cruise in Alaska waters. Being smaller they are better in the bays. Since we live close to Seattle I had my sister drop us off at the cruise line. We were told by others who had been on a cruise to board early and take a lunch on the Lido deck. Be sure to get a window seat and watch the supplies and people board the ship.
Being dropped off by a private car was not too bad. It was a little chaotic with people leaving from the previous cruise and the new earlier arrivers coming in. The directions on the HAL website are not the best. I had talked to HAL several times on the phone to get questions answered when I couldn’t find the information on the website. I was told that the website was newly designed and they are still working the bugs out of it. I usually spent more time looking for something than actually reading the information. We unloaded our bags and I asked one of the traffic / safety personal how we get our bags into the terminal. We could either carry them ourselves, there were porters with big carts picking up the bags or back in the parking area ($150 / week) there were buses that picked you up and you bags and brought you to the terminal.
My wife and I always have the big bag discussion about carrying them or using a porter. Since they are on wheels we wheeled them in this time. It was a short walk into the terminal with individuals guiding you on the way. Check in was fast dropped the bags at the screener and upstairs we went. We were assigned to loading group #2. Not sure how early you need to get to be in group #1, but we were there about 10:30 AM.
Before you get to the seating area the cruise lines has a few tables setup to offer you pre-purchase of wine and soft drinks. Since HAL allows you to bring wine to your room we had a role-on with a few bottles of wine (actually box wine). We purchased a 3 bottle package for dinner ($89). You do not have to choose the wine then, but you do see what is available in the package. It was about an hour wait before they started to board the first group. Boarding went along quite well only slowing due to the traditional pictures before the cruise (we looked at our picture and I had my eyes closed).
We were on to the ship and off to the Lido deck on deck #9. We seated ourselves by the window and had a nice lunch. It is buffet style, but you are not allowed to serve yourself. I am sure this is to prevent the dreaded viruses which you hear about on the ships to be passed around. We had sushi first it was a little clumsy pointing at the different types. There was not any signage so lines were forming both directions and periodically the server would direct people to the right direction. The food was yummy Bistro, Italian, and Asian.
We walked around the ship and it was great no one else was around so we wondered through the shops (which were closed), the casino and the various night clubs and bars. We got a great lay of the ship. We covered all the decks which didn’t have state rooms.
The announcement about 1pm that our rooms were ready and off we went to our rooms with our tote of wine in tow. At the room our first bums in the trip started. I pre-purchased a suite amenities package for my wife and I as a surprise to her along with a birthday bouquet and balloons. We are at the room and the other little packages that we bought were there, but no amenities package. There was a sign on the door wishing “Ravi” happy birthday and balloons. Unfortunately my wife name is not Ravi so there was some mix up in the packages. The steward showed up a little later and wanted to know what bottles of wine and liquor my wife wanted in here package. He was a confused when I informed him that we didn’t know what was available since our package was not here.
Our formal cloths showed up a little later my tux had buttons missing and my wife’s black skirt (a size small) fit both of us. We ran down who to talk to about changes and they came to pick them up.
There is somewhat a language barrier and it took a little time for the beverage steward to explain to my wife what was in the amenities package. It included a dinner at the Pinnical Resturant and Breakfast on the day of disembarkment. We had booked a suite and the amenities package included two robes, but the room had the same robes so that was sortof a bust.
The rest of the night was very relaxing evening. We came back to the room and ordered room service, but to our dismay we didn’t have a room service menu. This began the quest for the mythical room service menu. It appears that the book that comes with the room explaining stuff on the ship has a room service menu on the last page. Alas we didn’t have a last page and it took several phone calls to determine this was the problem. We were able to chat with the room service people and ordered two shrimp cocktails and a cheese plate. The cheese plate was 6 dabs of different cheeses. It was really a waste of a clean plate.
We filled out the in room breakfast menu and placed it on the door handle. Then off to bed. The beds are very comfortable and we snuggled into for a great sleep. At midnight we received a call from room service (#92 on the phone) they informed us that they couldn’t get us a room service menu and we need to call #90 or the front desk for it. That would be a task for the morning back to sleep we went.

[Manastash]

Beautiful day at sea bright sun at about 5:20 AM. Toilet got clogged last night called the “at your service” number on the phone and they sent someone up to take a look at it they agreed that it was clogged and would send someone else to fix it. We were told that we would get a room service menu sent up to us, but still no room service menu. I went out to get two espressos at the explorer lounge while we waited for our breakfast to be brought up to the room. I had a nice chat with one of the nurses on board as my espressos were made. It took a little, but I was finally able to get two double expressos one with sugar free vanilla. During my chat with the nurse she told me that the medical personal on the ship consist of three nurses and two doctors (one for the crew and one for the passengers).
I returned to the room with the espressos and my wife told me that the toilet was fixed and the problem was too much paper. We were asked to be kind to the toilet.
Our dress cloths were returned to our room, my wife’s skirt now fit her, but my tux still had the button missing. I attempted to make another call about it, but after being on hold for 5 minutes or so I decided to chat with the people at the front desk when we went out.
The front desk was so helpful. We were able to locate a copy of the mythical room service menu. They copied out of there book. It appears that many of the books have this page missing and they are working to make more copies of this page. We inquired about my tux again and she assured us that they would pick up the coat and fix it. Lastly we inquired about the disembarakment arrangements that were included in the amenities package. We will be given an access code for the pinical restaurant for that morning and our bags don’t need to be outside of our room until 6 AM on Sunday. We need to be off the ship by 9:30 AM.
They have some digital workshop classes on board and we sat in on one about windows 7 at 11 AM and we will do one on cameras at 1:30 PM. The classes are first come fist serve so you should show up about 15 minutes before the class. They opened the double doors to the room first so line up there.
We did two more digital workshops one on digital camera operations and the other importing your pictures. There was the navigator wine tasting at 2 pm four wines to taste. This is the cheaper package of wines that they sold. You can buy different bottle amounts (3, 5, etc.). We enjoyed the discussion by the wine steward. The Chardonnay and Malbec were my favorites. My wife liked the Riesling and Malbec. The merlot was just a bit odd.
We both spent some time in the casino and won $150 on a 40 cent bet on a slot machine. You use your cabin card as your player card. I transferred the money on the card and took a walk on deck 3 the upper promenade deck (6 times around is 2 miles).
Tonight is the first formal night. I got the button replaced on my tux so I am a happy camper. We realized at dinner that we missed the first dinning on Day #1. I didn’t realize that the seated dinning started on the first night. We are seated at a table for 10 and there were only 6 of us. A couple from Victoria and a retired policeman form Harlem who now lives in Phoenix, AZ.
It is interesting that all the food is the same in the main dining or the Lido deck. We have dinner at the Pinnacle restaurant on Day #4 and Day #5. Day #5 the Pinnacle changes to a French restaurant. We somehow stumbled into getting a reservation that night (lucky for us!).

[Manastash]

There is a time change when you are in Glacier Bay. We had a lot of discussion about the time and it appears we had a time change when we were at sea on day #2 and then moved back into pacific time when we reached Glacier Bay. We have a room on the right side of the ship (odd # room). The sun was bright this morning. The 10 day forecast was for rain, but it looks like we may miss it. The waves yesterday were 4 to 7.5 feet this morning it is very calm.
We have whales! This morning as my wife and I were waiting for coffee to be brought to our room we saw our first whale sign. There were spouts of water in the morning sun here there and yonder. We watched the small boat that had the captain who will guide us into Glacier Bay approach and leave the ship.
Today at lunch the Lido restaurant will become self serve again. The Captain at the “Captain’s Toast” last night before the show told us that HAL determined that best way to prevent illness was to have all restaurants for the first few days be full service. There studies have shown this is the best way to prevent any on board illnesses. After 2 days the benefit is reduced so they go back to self service.
We have a cooking class at 11 AM and after that we will be in Glacier Bay. If you want to do one of these cooking classes it is best to sign up for them before the cruise. I was told by the manager of the classes that they were sold out on day #1.
I had my first accident on the trip today. The door out to our deck is quite heavy and automatically pulls shut. My tip of middle finger on my right hand has quite a bruise on it (OUCH)!
We spent some great time in Glacier Bay. At Marjorie Glacier there was some great “calving.” That was what I was told it is called when the ice falls off the glacier. The park ranger on board the ship said it was some of the best in a while. We saw five chunks of ice (2 very large) crash into the ocean. The captain stopped the ship for 1 hour (1/2 hour each side of the ship) to watch the glacier. You could hear the cracking in the glacier from our deck. If I did this again I would get a cabin on the left hand of the ship since this was the first stop for the glacier.

[Manastash]

Whoops I misspelled the ships name in the begining of the thread it is Oosterdam. Sorry HAL!

[musicismylife]

Thanks for sharing your cruise experience with us! I hope you have a great trip.

[PumpkinPatches]

Sounds like a great trip! I've been to Alaska 2x with HAL and loved em both!

Sorry to hear about all the problems you've encountered. Unfortunately, stuff happens, but it sounds like the crew is really making the effort in regards to fixing all the problems!

[bcd2010]

Whoops I misspelled the ships name in the begining of the thread it is Oosterdam. Sorry HAL!

Actually, I was enjoying the image of an "Oostradam" for all the perpetually negative CC posters...

(I don't need to clarify - "ostracize" - do I?;))

[PumpkinPatches]

Say "HI" to the O for me!!

I'll be sailing in 40 days :)

[PaulMCO]

We were on the "O" for the 18 July cruise. A very well run ship I must say and firing on all cylinders.

Only problem was the weather (rain) on all shore days.

I really should fault HAL for the weather :D
(only kidding)

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[PirateShark]

Argh!!! Another 24 days :mad: The wait is killing me!

Thanks for posting your cruise - makes me want to move time ahead (just a little). Can you tell us what stateroom category you are just for our comparison sake?

[Manastash]

We are in a SY room. Out whale watching coming back in will try and post after dinner. Little bumpy for iPhone.

[PirateShark]

Awesome Manastash! Don't worry about us and posting after dinner - enjoy and have a great time!

[Manastash]

Waiting in queen's lounge for tender ride into Sitka. Cell connection is only edge network for AT&T no 3G will have to post the daily write up later to slow for network tethering. Had great day in Juneau wonderful dinner when back on board.

[SilvertoGold]

Thanks so much for this great review.
If you have the inclination, you could stop by the Explorer's Lounge before or after dinner and see if there are any chocolates available. This is generally standard on HAL ships, but I would love to know if the Oosterdam does this.
Hope the rest of your cruise is wonderful!

[PumpkinPatches]

Thanks so much for this great review.
If you have the inclination, you could stop by the Explorer's Lounge before or after dinner and see if there are any chocolates available. This is generally standard on HAL ships, but I would love to know if the Oosterdam does this.
Hope the rest of your cruise is wonderful!

I'm curious too!!

I know HAL has something in the Explorer's Lounge around dinner time, but I'm not sure what it is.. please let me know!

[CowPrincess]

Thanks for taking us along on our trip :D

[Manastash]

I will have to check out the Explorer lounge tonight and let you know if there is chocolate.

Here is the post about yesterday.

This is will be our longest day in port. My wife and I will do the Photo Safari by Land and Sea it is 4 ¾ hours long and we will do the afternoon safari.
We pulled into Juneau about 6 am. It took some time for the ship to be docked and at 7am the captain announced that it was all clear to go ashore. We have to be back on the ship by 7 pm or find another way home.
We had another issue with the toilet this morning. They were docking the ship so it took them about an hour to get to our room to fix the toilet.
We ate breakfast at the lido deck and did a little searching on the internet since our cell phones were working now that we were in port. I have AT&T and had a very good 3G signal. We touch basis with family members and sent a few emails to others. I read a few blogs about shops owned by local residents of Juneau and made a note of them. I will mention the later in this blog when I dig out their receipts.
It is a drizzly rainy day in Juneau, but the temp is quite mild 53 degrees.
There is a real resentment from the local shop owners who live year round in Juneau about the ones who just come for the cruise ships and then leave. One of the shop owners called them “locust.” I was told by several shop owners that the number of ships is down about 20% this year.
We walked up Franklin Street past the 20 or so jewelry / diamond stores into the older part of Juneau. We found some shops that are run by locals who leave in Juneau year round. Our first stop was the Juneau artist gallery at 175 Franklin Street. It is operated by local artists. In my none cruse role I wear a tie. I found a nice tie made locally (a bit of Alaska that I will take home). I asked the shop owner if there were other shops owned by local residences and she mentioned the “Peer Amid Beads” and a Ben Franklin store (which has been in Juneau for many years). My wife makes pine needle baskets and is always looking for some beads so she was interested in the bead shop. The Mount Juneau Trading Post at 151 Franklin Street had a lot of local carvings and just stuff. We also came across a nice book store up the street from the Ben Franklin Store just before the Wells Fargo Bank.
We came back to the ship for lunch and at 2pm we were off for our Photo Safari; the description didn’t do it justice. The freelance photographer (Jenifer) who led the tour was wonderful. She helps everyone with their camera settings. I had never taken a macro picture before. We hiked a short distance to the Mendenhall Glacier, across a stream called Steep Creek where salmon were spawning. This trail is called the “time trail” since it marks the recession of the Glacier. There was a marker showing where the glacier was in 1916 (it is now about 3 miles away from this spot). This is an interesting date my mother had her 99th birthday last week so when she was 6 years old the glacier was at this point and now in her lifetime if has moved so far.
We finished our hike probably about a mile at the glacier visiting center. We had a great view of the glacier across the lake it has made and then it was off to seek whales. We were bused to a waiting boat and were out looking for whales. We came across 4 and watched them for about 1 ½ hours then it was time to go back to the ship. We were all given a DVD that the safari company had made including some till pictures of the glacier over the years.
We had a dinner time at the Pinnacle at 8:30 the lobster and filet were great. Today was my wife’s birthday so we were given a small chocolate cake. Wonderful!

[Manastash]

If you were going to do the photo safari in Juneau I would try to do the morning on so you would have all afternoon to wonder around town.
Well the gremlin from the toilet showed up during the night sometime and the toilet required assistance again this morning. They were right here to fix the toilet and life is good. We will grab a quick breakfast and ride a tender into town.
About 4 am this morning we hit a little rough see. It wasn’t really rough, but rolling. It felt like I was in a cradle and someone was rocking it not a bad feeling. I see a lot of people with the sea sickness patch behind their ear, but have never felt sick myself. I really chum the fish when I have been in a small boat out in the ocean.
We walked down to the park with the totem poles in them it is about ¾ mile to from where the tenders left us off. Very nice path in the park and once you get in the park it is quite beautiful. The river that flows through the park was full of salmon spawning. They blended in quite well with the riverbed so you had to look for a while, then you could see the river had a salmon about every 6 inches.
Sitka has free wireless throughout the town. We couldn’t get it from our room on the boat, but we were on the side away from town.
Most of the shops are on Lincoln street this takes you to the national park with the totem poles and to the shops. We stopped at the visitor center just off the boat they have a gift shop and a small museum about the Russian influence in the area when Russia owned this area. My sister loves tea and the gift shop had these compressed tea cakes they are about ½ inch thick and 4 x 6 inches. This is how they shipped tea from China to save space. You scrape about ½ teaspoon off the cake and add it to a cup of hot water. They were $21 this size will last for a long time. They were wrapped in paper and had a description about what they were these are a real unique gift.
I saw these books in Juneau titled “Sitka Tango” they were about a dog from Sitka who has adventures with the family boy. The author was in Sitka selling the books on the street with Tango. I thought this will be a great story to read to my grandchildren. There are two books in the series right now. The first is about Tango’s adventures off Sitka in the old WWII bunkers and underground hospital area. He saves the boy by swimming out and pulling in the kayak. He is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (www.nsdtrc-usa.org/) he looks like a cross between a Irish Setter and a Golden Retriever. I probably just insulted three different type breed of dogs.
I was wrong about the French night in the Pinnacle restaurant it is Friday night. Check it out when you get it on board the Oosterdam is the first ship in the fleet to do this. It will be standard on all ships soon.
Will try to post more about this evening tomorrow.

[Copper10-8]

Actually, I was enjoying the image of an "Oostradam" for all the perpetually negative CC posters...

(I don't need to clarify - "ostracize" - do I?;))

I kept thinking about that bad boy Nostradamus:eek:

Enjoy your cruise Manastache!;)

[Manastash]

Just arrived on Seattle will post rest of trip later today. It was a wonderful cruise.

[Manastash]

This is a side light, but I am a dog lover and found this dog I mentioned in the last post quite interesting (sorry for the off topic post). The Nova Scotia Duck-Tolling Retriever originates from Canada. Tolling Red Decoy Dogs probably accompanied their masters from Great Britain to Nova Scotia. They were crossed with retrievers and working spaniels. It was developed to toll (lure) ducks in the manner of the fox. The clever manner in which foxes work together to obtain a duck dinner has been observed over the centuries. The Nova Scotia Duck-Tolling Retriever is the creation of skillful Canadian hunters. The Toller's rather unusual job is to lure ducks and geese within shotgun range, and to retrieve them from the water after they have been hit. From his concealed blind near the shore, the hunter tosses a stick parallel to the shore, and with great liveliness, but without barking, the Toller retrievers it. It may take a dozen or more throws before the ducks or geese become curious and approach the shore. When the overly inquisitive ducks are within shooting range, the hunter calls his dog back to the blind, stands up to put the birds to flight, and shoots. The Toller then acts as an efficient retriever. Indians utilized this mesmerizing practice by stringing a fox skin across a length of shore and yanking it quickly back and forth, simulating the movement of the fox. The breed used to be called the Little River Duck Dog or Yarmouth Toller.
Wow waking up this morning in Ketchikan was like a dream. The water outside was like glass with no wind. The sun is just starting to touch the mountains and this will be a beautiful day.
We decided to take breakfast off the ship this morning. This is a short stop for the ship we need to be back on board by 12:30pm (that is 30 minutes after noon). The captain announced that the ship is cleared to allow passengers of around 7am. The town is actually quite alive at 7am since there are two cruise ships in. The Norwegian Pearl is docked up the street. We found a café about 4 blocks from the ship. There is a small park / square on the far side is the café. It had the name Pioneer in it. I can’t remember the full name. We had some pancakes and Reindeer sausage (we found out later the ship had reindeer sausage also for breakfast). My wife and I had stayed away from the gift shops and since we didn’t have anything planned that day we decided to walk through the shops. There wasn’t anything special we bought some souvenir for our Daughter, Son in-law and our grandchildren. We came back on board around 10:30 and went to the Crows Nest (This is at the front of the boat) and had a espresso and watched the fishing ships go out to sea. The water was like a mirror and you could see salmon jumping from time to time. My wife worked on a pine needle basket and I fell asleep (in the sun).
The ship pulled up anchor around 1:00pm and we slowly sailed out. The rest of the day the sea was like a mirror and the sun was out. We sat outside for a while and then went back to our room and sat on our deck.
We had a wine tasking at 2pm this one is $35 it included 4 wines and a sparkling wine. It also had some bits of food to pair with the wine. The ship’s wine steward did a wonderful job describing the wines and discussing the pairing with food. We met two women from Lake Tahoe at the wine tasting. We had both brought some wine on board (this is allowed by HAL) and decided to open a bottle each and enjoy the afternoon cruise. We found an empty area on deck 3 where string instruments play some nights (I think it was the Ocean Bar) and drank wine it was a wonderful time the sea was still like a mirror and the sun was out.
We ate dinner in the upper dining room at our scheduled time 8pm and shared stories with our table mates about the day. One couple had done an excursion on a live working crab boat ( I guess it is part of the “Deadliest Catch” Series).
They had a comedian / ventriloquist for entertainment that evening. He was very entertaining. At 10:30pm there was a chocolate extravaganza on the Lido deck. It was a wonderful event, but I was so tired we walked though to see the layout and went to bed.

[Manastash]

Today was another sea day basically as we traveled to Victoria, BC. I was told that since the cruise line travel in Canadian water they are required to stop at a tleast one Canadian Port. I like Victoria alright, but would have liked stopping at one of the Canadian ports farther north and just cruised all night into Seattle.
We spent most of the morning packing and then picked up some lunch in the Lido deck. We went up tothe Crows Nest had an espresso and watched the sea. One of the couples from our dining table showed up and the gals went to the “Cupcake High Tea.” My wife said it was a hoot. The cruise director JT led a trivia game which we only got 6 out the 15. We got back to our room and found that our whale watching trip in Victoria was cancelled due to rough oceans. So we decided to stay on the ship for the evening. When you dock in Victoria you will have to take a cab or a bus into town. As I sit typing this my wife flipped on the channel of the webcam on the front of the ship. It is an interesting view of Victoria, BC. You can see people walking on the sea wall.
We bought the Suite Amenities package which allowed us to put our luggage out in the morning, but decided to put it out tonight. Sat on the deck and finished up a bottle of wine watching the gulls and talking about what a great trip this has been.

[Manastash]

We picked 9am as our time to leave the ship. Got up about 6am and finished up in the room. Since we had the Amenities package we were able to have breakfast in the Pinnacle (this is the only day they have breakfast). Wonderful breakfast my wife had a Japanese breakfast and I the Dutch Breakfast. There were some other wonderful choices, but wanted something simple.
We sat around for out time to off load for about an hour. Should have chosen a earlier time or just slept in a little more. Since we were Newbie this is what you get. It took all of 15 minutes to walk off the ship pickup the bags and have them wheeled out by a porter. There we were the same place we were a week before. I asked around about how much to tip the porter and the Holland rep I asked said $5 was enough. I did see some tip $10, but they had enough bags to last a month. Like we didn’t we had 3 bags to start (packed 2 empty ones) and had 6 bags coming home.

[Manastash]

Some thought about the cruise. I don’t believe the drink cards are a good deal unless you plan to drink “cocktails.” I like whisky, scotch on the rocks or wine. The card is for cocktails (mixed drinks). The coffee card you can get at the “Explorer Espressos in the Crows Nest,” is good for 10 coffees and we didn’t use the whole card during the cruise. If you are going to drink wine with dinner the wine package sold in the terminal as you wait isn’t a bad deal. We bought a 3 bottle package, but would probably buy a 5 bottle package next time. We drank the 3 bottles by day #4 and bought one of the bottles from the list a little more than ½ what we paid for the 3 bottle (this was the cheaper Navigator list). I would eat in the Pinnacle grill again and would try to eat on the Le Cerc night (on Friday) make your reservations on Monday at the Pinnacle grill main desk on deck 3. They severed 168 that night with about 100 asking to be on the waiting list.
I asked around, but couldn’t find any activity in the Explorer after dinner. I never went up there so may have not asked the right people. I asked about the tips that are applied to your bill each day and 70% goes to your stewards, servers and people you see. The other 30% is split up with everyone else you don’t see behind the scene. HAL doesn’t take anything else.
If you buy a cocktail card the server that serves you doesn’t get any tip from the card (there was a commission given to the guy that sold it to you). That is why all drinks sold not on the cards have a tip added and the cards don’t.
If anyone has any questions I will do my best to answer them. My wife and I are planning our next cruise. We are thinking on taking my wife’s 80ish parents to Alaska in May.
Happy Cruising!

[kpalmer7]

Great review........... I'm so glad that you enjoyed the cruise. We did the same cruise the end of July and had fantastic weather. The cruise was great and would go again for sure