Quiet spot for sunning - Oosterdam

[Sea Island Lady]

Besides your own veranda, is there a quiet outdoor area of the ship to catch some rays? Having just looked at some photo's of the Oosterdam, I notice that the basketball court sits right above the back pool/sunning deck. I cannot imagine this to be a relaxing area with a game of BB going on nearby. :rolleyes:
We like to be able to read, nap and get as much sun possible in a relaxing comfortable atmoshere. Is there such a place?

[K&RCurt]

The basketball area is two decks above and significantly forward of the aft pool area. Any place you want to sit near either pool will not be the most quite sunning area. I found that there were many lounge chairs available all around the observation deck with no one else near on our 1/23 Westerdam cruise. In fact, the chair I chose to sit and read for two hours on one of the sea days was right below the edge of the sports area and no one was there and perhaps a total of 10 people walked by during that time.. Of course if you are cruising during a school holiday it might be more active, but I'm sure you will be able to find a nice quiet spot.

[dakrewser]

Yes, the area on the Observation deck (just outside the Crow's Nest) while not empty, was certainly sparsely populated and quiet whenever we happened to be passing by...

[Sea Island Lady]

Thank you for the Observation area tip. Are the chairs lounge type?

From this photo http://www.shipcafe.net/shipcafe/os/osdm_171.jpg (http://www.shipcafe.net/shipcafe/os/osdm_171.jpg)
the BB court appears to be pratically on top of the aft pool area.

[dakrewser]

Thank you for the Observation area tip. Are the chairs lounge type?

From this photo http://www.shipcafe.net/shipcafe/os/osdm_171.jpg (http://www.shipcafe.net/shipcafe/os/osdm_171.jpg)
the BB court appears to be pratically on top of the aft pool area.

There are padded lounge chairs as well as "tables & chairs" (under cover). And they're have a deck forward of the game areas - which were hardly ever in use.

[Randyk47]

Dave is correct. It's relatively quiet and never crowded. If there's any problem at all it will be weather related. On our last full day on the Odam last March the winds were so strong that you would have had to power nail yourself into the deck up there to stay in place. Of course that was true for just about any outdoor area other than the main pool and even that was pretty windy.

[Cracker Ken]

When I have time for being in the sun, I prefer as much peace and quiet as I can find. I like going up to the deck above the Crow's Nest. If the ship has a glass wind screen around this area, it's great. Very few people go up there, and they have lounge chairs. If there is no wind screen (like on the Veendam, and maybe other S class ships, it can be awful windy, to the point of being uncomfortable up there. The area the other's described just outside the Crow's Nest on the Sports Deck is nice too, with some shaded area on the Vista ships. I don't care for crowed pool areas, or even crowed beaches for that matter.

Ken

[mountainmare]

There are tons of great places to sun. We were on a full cruise with over 1800 passengers and I never had a problem finding a quiet place to sun. The area along the railing by the aft pool is nice,but they do ply music sometimes. The areas on the aft observation deck have windscreens and the same laying down lougers that you get by the aft pool. If its windy this might be your best bet, usually I was the only person sunning there and sometimes I felt that I was an attraction for people walking by(at my age and bodytype maybe they were just shocked). Forward on the observation deck are the padded longe chairs, again not used very much and really a great place to nap. The only area that was crowded seemed to be inside the lido pool area. All this said, our veranda was big enough to pretend that it was a beach, spead out a towel and sun the oldfasioned way. ENJOY!!!

[Sea Island Lady]

Thank you so much!

Cracker Ken - Way up high may just be the ticket.

mountainmare - I do enjoy the music somewhat. Is there a live band around either pool during sea days or is it all ply (really don't know what that word is, but I assume it means supplied or piped???)

What I really despise are the cruise directors and assistants that play games over the loud speakers most of the day around the pool like other cruiselines do. Please tell me that HAL limits this activity? :rolleyes:

[Kabana]

forward observation deck is the quietest, and there are hardly any pool games on HAL, I find even the center Lido pool area to be quiet and relaxing for the most part though a little more crowded sometimes

[Sea Island Lady]

Sounds great!