Rev. Neal's Photos from the Oosterdam

[RevNeal]

Here's a link to the photos from my Oosterdam 02/05/05 cruise. click on the thumbs to see each of the galleries and the photos in each.

Rev. Neal's Oosterdam Photos (http://homepage.mac.com/revneal/oosterdam05/Menu43.html)

Or, go here: http://homepage.mac.com/revneal/oosterdam05/Menu43.html

[swannie]

revneal, lovely pictures! Once again, you uncannily seem to foreshadow my cruise experiences. Last time you had your pictures of the Volendam in Alaska after I had booked that cruise. Now the Oosterdam in Mexico which I just recently booked for December! Where are we going next year?

[SeaGypsy]

Rev Neal,
Wow! What a wonderful surprise to log on and find your photos. We board the Oosterdam, March 12th. You are just simply great. I enjoy all your posts. Hope we get to meet some day, perhaps on a cruise. Thank you again for all your time and effort, just beautiful and what a blessing to have seen this before the cruise. The best to you always.

[stanford's girl]

RevNeal,
Thanks for sharing your fabulous pictures of your cruise on the Oosterdam. I'll be sailing on her Oct. 22 and your pics make the wait bearable!!!! Looks like you had a great time.:D

[RevNeal]

Where are we going next year?

Thank you, Swanie! I hope you have a great cruise aboard "The Big O." Christopher and I cruise on the Westerdam this Fall ... November 6 + 13 b2b. Next year I'm planning on a cruise in Europe in the summer (probably) and a Fall cruise to Hawaii. I MAY also do a repeat on the Oosterdam "just of the heck" next Feb. All depends upon how the money goes. :)

[tiffnco]

Wow!

Those are some great photos! Thanks for bringing the "O" to life while I wait months...and months...and months before I get to sail!

[Ziggy7]

RevNeal, thank you so much for sharing your wonderful pictures! I loved seeing the cacti gardens as I grow alot of cacti here at home too, also you are very handsome in your tux! I really enjoyed all your pictures, those sunsets are to die for! Thanks again! :)

[RevNeal]

"You're welcome" to all those who thanked me for the photos. I enjoyed taking them even more than you did viewing them!!!! :D And, I enjoy sharing my photography with others! Thank you for expressing your appreciation.

[Hollyhawk]

Rev.....you look great and these shots were fun and informative.

[JaniceB]

RevNeal,

Wonderful photos. You really did a great job showing us the Oosterdam. I wouldn't be surprised if HAL contacted you about using your pictures in their brochures. I second Ziggy7, very handsome in your tux. I loved the pictures of the churches. I think Mexico has some of the most picturesque churches. As a teen a traveled to Mexico and was in awe over some that saw.

[PennyB]

Thanks for sharing your BEAUTIFUL pictures! Being new to cruisecritic, I have found your posts so informative and objective. There are 4 of us leaving this Saturday on the Oosterdam and I am counting the minutes! Thanks again .. :)

[jhannah]

Great photo presentation, as always. Looks like you had a wonderful cruise. You and Christopher should consider sailing the Prinsendam with us in August. Since you are interested in Europe, this is the "Windmills and Waterford" cruise that circles the British Isles. Should be a great 14 days.

[Time2sail]

RevNeal,

Enjoyed the beautiful photos from your site plus the reviews; especially your cruise on the Volendam to Alaska. We will be on the Amsterdam for our first HAL cruise to Alaska and I understand she is a beautiful ship, too.:)

[cruisinjudy]

Very nice pictures. We will be on Oosterdam April 20. What a nice inside cat. J! So much room and such a nice layout!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Bravo!!!!! Great pictures. Especially that good looking couple Mr and Mrs LAFFNVEGAS that you were with:D

I love seeing the pictures of the Oosterdam I think she is truely a beautiful ship.

Thanks for sharing.

[roe2ship]

Enjoyed looking at your photos. There were fantastic shots. Those corner aft cabin balconies are enormous. From looking at this, it appears than NONE of the aft balconies are private on the vista class ships? Would that be correct? We love aft but also privacy. TIA

[FCOWHER]

Rev. Neal, wow, what great shots. It was very interesting to see what spots a, "man of the cloth" would enjoy photographing while on vacation. I really enjoyed the photos of the cathedral. It looks like you had a great time thanks for sharing. Joe V.

Serenade of the Seas 12/31/05
Zuiderdam 04/23/05

[Renorita]

Greg
Great Photo's! What beautiful colors. From your pictures, I see no reason for the criticisms some posters have made regarding the Vista Ships being too wild in the color scheme. HAL seems to have accomplished the hard task of making something very bright, yet warm at the same time. I realize you have to be there to make a fair assessment, but your pictures will help to pacify us until we broard on the 12th of Nov.

Rita

[boards]

Thank you for sharing those pictures, you did a great job. I really like the look of that "J" cat. cabin. Did you experience much in the way of motion being the close to the front end of the ship (the bow)? How does that cabin compare to other "J" cat on other ships, say the Veendam or Volendam?
Borden

[mechcc]

Great Job!!!!!!!! DW and I are sailing 2 April our first HAL cruise. Can't wait to see it live and close up.

hcc

[lilabet]

Hello Rev.Neal!
I am new to this board, and just came across your great photos of Mexico.Of great interest to me were the ones of the dolphin swim in Puerto Vallarta. I am taking my 8yr.old grandaughter on cruise March26/05 on the Ryndam.One of the tours that I picked was the swim. I know she will be thrilled (it's a surprize). My concern is that I will not be able to get full enjoyment of the swim because of my arthritis and my mobility...my one hand does not close tightly. Will these things be a problem when getting on top of dolphin and hanging on? Do they swim under you or do you have to climb on? . Silly questions..sorry. I am not elderly ( some may think so haha) nor that crippled ..still these things are of concern to me. Is the water cold? It's been so long since I've been in anything other then hot water...wouldn't want to have heart failure getting in.Thank you so much for any answers you can give me, it will be greatly appreciated. Liz
P.S.I too like to travel and have a web page that you may enjoy.Have none of my cruises on yet....I kind of ran out of steam with what I did already and can't seem to get back into the mode of working on it again. Anyways it is:
http://home.thirdage.com/Travel/lilabet
If this doesn't take you there just type in lilabet in search and it's called lilabet's photo journal of Brazil and Ireland or something like that. As I said ..it's been a while since I worked on it!
Tried to send this privately on your web page..it would not accept because of length..so the error said

[RevNeal]

You and Christopher should consider sailing the Prinsendam with us in August. Since you are interested in Europe, this is the "Windmills and Waterford" cruise that circles the British Isles. Should be a great 14 days.

I would love to do that. Is that this summer or next? We're already booked for the Fall and Christopher can't make it away for any more time before then. I couldn't, either ... too much work to do at church. :)

[RevNeal]

Those corner aft cabin balconies are enormous. From looking at this, it appears than NONE of the aft balconies are private on the vista class ships? Would that be correct? We love aft but also privacy.

Actually, the aft cabins on the Navigation Deck (Deck 8) are fully obstructed from viewing above by the overhand of the Lido Deck. Those are the cabins I think I would be most interested in ... though their balconies are closer to "normal" size. You can see that feature in THIS photo:

http://homepage.mac.com/revneal/.Pictures/oosterdam2005/outside/aft3.jpg

Hope this helps!

[RevNeal]

I really like the look of that "J" cat. cabin. Did you experience much in the way of motion being the close to the front end of the ship (the bow)? How does that cabin compare to other "J" cat on other ships, say the Veendam or Volendam?

J-1037 is forward of the mid-ships Atrium, true, but it didn't feel as though I was way close to the front of the ship. Indeed, there was hardly any motion on this cruise. But, then, I personally ENJOY some motion. Sadly, on this cruise there was very little to be felt at all.

I've been in J categories on the S and R class ships ... they are my favorite cabins aboard those vessels. Those truly ARE amidships, and they are wonderful in that they are on the deck with the outside promenade (the Lower Promenade Deck on S and R vessels). That is their greatest advantage. The Main Deck Js on Vista ships are FANTASTIC in that they are significantly larger than any other inside cabin in the fleet (except for, perhaps, an occasional handicapped cabin). Make sure that what you're getting is one of the Js on Main Deck, though, because a J up higher is NOT going to be as large. I went in one on this cruise ... should have taken some photos for comparison. WOW ... talk about small! These were about the size of a large piano.

[RevNeal]

I am taking my 8yr.old grandaughter on cruise March26/05 on the Ryndam.One of the tours that I picked was the swim. I know she will be thrilled (it's a surprize). My concern is that I will not be able to get full enjoyment of the swim because of my arthritis and my mobility...my one hand does not close tightly. Will these things be a problem when getting on top of dolphin and hanging on? Do they swim under you or do you have to climb on?

That's a good question. I did the Dolphin ENCOUNTER, which is more mild than the Dolphin Swim, there in PV. For the most part it involved standing on a platform in about waist-deep water, and petting the dolphins. We had a lot of quality time with the critters ... it was REAL fun. The riding of the dolphins was an extra that they let a few of us who were good swimmers do. The dolphin flipped over onto his back and swam up underneither me as he surfaced. I then took ahold of his fins and he took off. I had to grip rather tightly, but then I'm a big fella. :)

In your case, I might suggest the Dolphin Encounter. If I had to do it again, and having seen what those in the Dolphin Swim did, I think I'd almost rather do the Encounter AGAIN.

The water wasn't really cold. Nor was it hot. There was an initial "ah" getting in ... it was mild. But, then, with the sun and all, it was VERY comfortable. I didn't want to get out.

[cruznon]

We just had one of the large aft wrap-around veranda cabins on deck 5. We were never bothered by lack of privacy. It was rare to look up an see anyone looking down. If you really need to be away from anyone looking, the side section was about 25' x 6' and TOTALLY covered. Believe me the trade-off in space FAR exceeded a totally-covered veranda. It was fabulous! Unforgettable.

[lilabet]

Thanks for quick reply, I think seeing as I have already paid for the swim and from you have said, I will play it by how the body is feeling on the day.If not good then maybe I can trade someone's encounter ticket with my swim ticket. Another question: is there somewhere safe you can lock your wallet etc.?Would think as we are booked together ..we will swim together and there won't be anyone to hold on to wallet. Big thanks again

[RevNeal]

If it's the one in PV, they'll take you to an area where you are invited to watch the dolphins and listen to a tape that will explain a lot about them. Then they'll invite you to strip to your bathing suit. Other than the trainers and your fellow passengers there is no one else allowed in the area, and I kept an occasional eye on the area where they had us change ... there was never anyone over in the area except for passengers. I took a limited amount of money and ID ... just enough for the tip and to get back on the ship. I left all rings, watches, and stuff, aboard ship. they will make you take them all off to enter the pool with the dolphins anyway. I wish I had taken an additional $30, however ... or a credit card. The photos they took were rather pricey.

[Himself]

Rev. Greg Neal:

Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Himself

[robertmartha]

Rev Neal

Thanks so much for sharing the wonderful pictures. I just sat with my two daughters (10 and 8) and looked at each one - we'll be on the O in August (Alaska) and if we can - your beautiful photos convinced us to do the Mexican Riveria on the O next presidents week!!!!!!!

The waters looked very very calm - were they?

[RevNeal]

I found the seas to be VERY calm. The swells were a bit strong in Cabo, but apart from that it was very smooth. I've cruised this area before and have found the waters to be varied ... they CAN be high, too.

[CanadianMAG]

Great photos! Thanks for sharing them, I was loosing the excitement of this vacation... Thanks for getting me excited again!!!

[Bucky3]

THANK YOU so much for posting your wonderful pictures. Our family of 9 will be sailing on Oosterdam the end of the month, and it looks like we're all going to love it. Did you happen to observe any teenage activities in progress??

[RevNeal]

Did you happen to observe any teenage activities in progress??

I know that Club HAL had them, and I went through the Club HAL area at one point and was GREATLY impressed by the area -- I remember my trips on old the SS. United States back in the 1960s ... they had next to NOTHING for children or youth -- but I don't know what they did, nor did I observe any of the activities. :)

That is ... unless you're referring to the late night activities that aren't sanctioned by Club HAL, like running down the halls and banging on doors, removing room service order forms, and mail from the mail box, all at 3:30 am? Yes, I'm serious ... a pack of children made it a regular practice to run the halls and engage in mischief during the wee hours ... when wee ones should be in bed. I blame the parents, actually, and so I expect that your teens will be VERY well behaved. :) Indeed, I know that most of the youth aboard were very well behaved ... it's just that there's always a few who sour things.

I trust you and your family have a fantastic cruise on the O-Dam. She's a wonderful ship.

[krittykat]

We are cruising in July on the Oosterdam - I am getting so excited. These pics make it even harder to wait.

[Bucky3]

Thanks for your reply! Yes, I was referring to the ship's planned teen activities. Hope we don't have to endure many 3:30am disturbances! We're looking forward to a great cruise.

[joyus]

What nice pictures!! This will be my mom's second cruise in her life and these pictures really captured it for us. Thank you.