CrusinCouple
May 28th, 2006, 06:44 PM
Just back from the Oosterdam 5/20-27/06.
Friday - 5/19 - Seattle. We arrived a day early to get acclimated to the time difference and to see Seattle. We stayed at the Hampton Inn in City Center. It was just 3 blocks away from the Space Needle, and on the bus line to Downtown and Pike Market Place. The hotel was reasonably priced and clean. We spent the afternoon at the Market Place, which was a $1.50 bus ride from the hotel (the buses are free in a large downtown area, so you can hop on and off very easily). We decided to have dinner at the restaurant at the top of the Space Needle, the cost of dinner included admission to the needle. I highly recommend this. The food was excellent the views...awesome! We had 8:30pm dinner reservations; we saw a beautiful rainbow, saw an incredible sunset and watched a man propose to his girlfriend at the top of the needle. An overall wonderful experience.
Saturday - 5/20 - We arrived at the pier at approximately 10:30am, we check out bags, proceeded to the internet check in line and were all set by 11:00am. We purchased a soda card, 18 sodas for $20. We boarded the ship at approximately 11:30am. We were not able to enter our rooms, but the Lido was open for lunch. The cleared us to enter our cabins at approximately 1pm. We booked an SZ gty, and were placed in an SY, 6102. Great cabin, bathroom had a tub, shower stall and a double vanity, complete with Royal Dutch products...yummy! We had tons of closet, shelf and drawer space. It was kept immaculate all week by our cabin steward Fausi.
While waiting for our cabin to be ready, we took a tour of the Greenhouse Spa. We booked the week long use of the Thermal Suite. The cost for the two of us was $250.00. It was worth every penny! We had use of the hydrotherapy pool, a sauna, Turkish bath, steam room, heated ceramic loungers, and aromatherapy showers. I highly recommend this to everyone!
Sunday - we enjoyed a beautiful day at sea. We saw a lot of hump back whales, and sea otters.
Monday - Juneau. We were delayed 2 hours as there was a medical emergency during the night and we had to go off course to get someone off the ship for medical care. I was a bit concerned, because we booked 2 private excursions, and I wasn't sure how they would handle the change, but they were GREAT! Through Orca Enterprises we booked a whale watch and a helicopter glacier walk. WOW! They rearranged both excursions to fit our schedule, picked us up at the pier. They were wonderful. Whale Watch - we had Captain Larry himself bring us out. We saw many humpback whales but the highlight was the Orca's! There had to be 20 of them in the water, it was incredible. Orca Enterprise also set up the helicopter/glacier walk for me through Costal Helicopter. We took a helicopter ride to Herbert Glacier, where we landed and were able to walk around and really get a feel for the glacier; we were there about 20 minutes and then got a helicopter tour of the Juneau Ice Field and several other areas. We had great weather the whole day. We were dropped off downtown (at our request) and did some shopping. We missed dinner in the dining room, but had room service on our balcony...it was a beautiful night.
Tuesday - Hubbard Glacier. We again had beautiful weather. I wish I could find the words to describe what this glacier looks like, the incredible shades of blue, the low rumble the shifting ice makes, the calving...but I can't, you need to see it for yourself.
We had to again go off course to drop off yet another passenger who needed medical care. I wish the best to the two passengers who had to end their trips short, hope they are all well!
Wednesday - Sitka. We booked the sea otter and wildlife expedition through HAL. It was a nice excursion. We saw sea otters, sea lions, eagles and an eagle nest. We also were lucky to see two humpback whales; one of them was a calf who put on a real show for us. It fully breeched a number of times, an awesome site. We wondered around the town a bit, saw the Russian Church, had some lunch and returned to the ship (to the Spa...)
Thursday - Ketchikan - We decided not to book any excursions for this stop. We did a self-walking tour, shopping and then returned to the ship (the spa really).
Friday - Victoria - This is a very beautiful city. We booked our own horse and carriage tour of the city. Many options to choose from. We picked the Beacon Hill Park and historic home tour. We did a bit of shopping and returned to the ship.
Saturday - arrived back in Seattle. Smooth disembark procedure. We waited in our cabin until our number was called. Then we just walked off got our luggage and got a cab to the airport.
Pinnacle Grill - We had dinner in the Pinnacle Grill one night. It was really very nice, and the food was great.
Dining Room Service/Food - The food in the dining room was very good. We had the early seating. Which on this ship is Leisure dining, we had to arrive between 5:30-6:00pm. I don't have any complaints about that...but I think the time span makes the service a bit slow. It seemed our dining steward tried to time all the tables in his area so he was delivering the same course. We waited a long time between courses. We arrived for dinner at 5:30pm and never left before 7:15pm. Our server was Muhammad and his assistant was Sumardi. Mike was a Bar server at dinner...very nice guy. We did a couple of breakfast and lunches, where the service was much quicker.
Lido - We used the Lido for breakfast (most of the time we did room service breakfast), and some lunches. The food was good. We enjoyed the ice cream...a lot! DH highly recommends the hard serve coconut and the soft serve pineapple.
Spa - As I mentioned earlier we booked the Thermal Suite. We were going to have a couples massage but never got around to it. On Thursday, they had 50% off massages but we didn't book in time. Check it out if you're interested.
At Your Service - Telephone Concregie - We had a "mini" suite, so no Neptune Lounge, the alternative is "at your service", you push the button on the phone and they tend to all your needs. We used it quite a bit.
Laundry Service - We used the laundry service. It was $12 for all you could fit in a laundry bag they provide to you. My husband’s tee-shirts were ironed! He'll be disappointed when I do the laundry!
Activities - we didn't participate in too many, we did a couple of the trivia games, there was a lot going on if one is interested in participating.
Entertainment - Liars Club - this was very entertaining. Oosterdam Superstars - HAL's version of American Idol...it was ok.
JOEL MASON - All caps because he deserves it. This was very entertaining and funny...he is a great entertainer!
Mike Robinson - comedian was very good as well.
The Cruise Director and Cruise Activity staff – were great. Vuk is very entertaining and cute too! Michelle, Joe, Chris and Matt were awesome!
Cruise Critic Gathering – My bad…I got the impression from these boards they HAL planned this, but reading today, we needed to plan it. I regret that I didn’t make arrangements for that to happen. I did run into a couple of people who booked Orca Enterprises because of this board. Also…several people on that excursion for the Z-dam who were cruise critic members.
Mariners Gathering – I was invited, but did not attend (I was at the spa). I did get my tile in our cabin.
The cruise easily met and exceeded our expectations. It was a wonderful experience. All the staff we ran into were helpful, friendly and eager to serve us.
Friday - 5/19 - Seattle. We arrived a day early to get acclimated to the time difference and to see Seattle. We stayed at the Hampton Inn in City Center. It was just 3 blocks away from the Space Needle, and on the bus line to Downtown and Pike Market Place. The hotel was reasonably priced and clean. We spent the afternoon at the Market Place, which was a $1.50 bus ride from the hotel (the buses are free in a large downtown area, so you can hop on and off very easily). We decided to have dinner at the restaurant at the top of the Space Needle, the cost of dinner included admission to the needle. I highly recommend this. The food was excellent the views...awesome! We had 8:30pm dinner reservations; we saw a beautiful rainbow, saw an incredible sunset and watched a man propose to his girlfriend at the top of the needle. An overall wonderful experience.
Saturday - 5/20 - We arrived at the pier at approximately 10:30am, we check out bags, proceeded to the internet check in line and were all set by 11:00am. We purchased a soda card, 18 sodas for $20. We boarded the ship at approximately 11:30am. We were not able to enter our rooms, but the Lido was open for lunch. The cleared us to enter our cabins at approximately 1pm. We booked an SZ gty, and were placed in an SY, 6102. Great cabin, bathroom had a tub, shower stall and a double vanity, complete with Royal Dutch products...yummy! We had tons of closet, shelf and drawer space. It was kept immaculate all week by our cabin steward Fausi.
While waiting for our cabin to be ready, we took a tour of the Greenhouse Spa. We booked the week long use of the Thermal Suite. The cost for the two of us was $250.00. It was worth every penny! We had use of the hydrotherapy pool, a sauna, Turkish bath, steam room, heated ceramic loungers, and aromatherapy showers. I highly recommend this to everyone!
Sunday - we enjoyed a beautiful day at sea. We saw a lot of hump back whales, and sea otters.
Monday - Juneau. We were delayed 2 hours as there was a medical emergency during the night and we had to go off course to get someone off the ship for medical care. I was a bit concerned, because we booked 2 private excursions, and I wasn't sure how they would handle the change, but they were GREAT! Through Orca Enterprises we booked a whale watch and a helicopter glacier walk. WOW! They rearranged both excursions to fit our schedule, picked us up at the pier. They were wonderful. Whale Watch - we had Captain Larry himself bring us out. We saw many humpback whales but the highlight was the Orca's! There had to be 20 of them in the water, it was incredible. Orca Enterprise also set up the helicopter/glacier walk for me through Costal Helicopter. We took a helicopter ride to Herbert Glacier, where we landed and were able to walk around and really get a feel for the glacier; we were there about 20 minutes and then got a helicopter tour of the Juneau Ice Field and several other areas. We had great weather the whole day. We were dropped off downtown (at our request) and did some shopping. We missed dinner in the dining room, but had room service on our balcony...it was a beautiful night.
Tuesday - Hubbard Glacier. We again had beautiful weather. I wish I could find the words to describe what this glacier looks like, the incredible shades of blue, the low rumble the shifting ice makes, the calving...but I can't, you need to see it for yourself.
We had to again go off course to drop off yet another passenger who needed medical care. I wish the best to the two passengers who had to end their trips short, hope they are all well!
Wednesday - Sitka. We booked the sea otter and wildlife expedition through HAL. It was a nice excursion. We saw sea otters, sea lions, eagles and an eagle nest. We also were lucky to see two humpback whales; one of them was a calf who put on a real show for us. It fully breeched a number of times, an awesome site. We wondered around the town a bit, saw the Russian Church, had some lunch and returned to the ship (to the Spa...)
Thursday - Ketchikan - We decided not to book any excursions for this stop. We did a self-walking tour, shopping and then returned to the ship (the spa really).
Friday - Victoria - This is a very beautiful city. We booked our own horse and carriage tour of the city. Many options to choose from. We picked the Beacon Hill Park and historic home tour. We did a bit of shopping and returned to the ship.
Saturday - arrived back in Seattle. Smooth disembark procedure. We waited in our cabin until our number was called. Then we just walked off got our luggage and got a cab to the airport.
Pinnacle Grill - We had dinner in the Pinnacle Grill one night. It was really very nice, and the food was great.
Dining Room Service/Food - The food in the dining room was very good. We had the early seating. Which on this ship is Leisure dining, we had to arrive between 5:30-6:00pm. I don't have any complaints about that...but I think the time span makes the service a bit slow. It seemed our dining steward tried to time all the tables in his area so he was delivering the same course. We waited a long time between courses. We arrived for dinner at 5:30pm and never left before 7:15pm. Our server was Muhammad and his assistant was Sumardi. Mike was a Bar server at dinner...very nice guy. We did a couple of breakfast and lunches, where the service was much quicker.
Lido - We used the Lido for breakfast (most of the time we did room service breakfast), and some lunches. The food was good. We enjoyed the ice cream...a lot! DH highly recommends the hard serve coconut and the soft serve pineapple.
Spa - As I mentioned earlier we booked the Thermal Suite. We were going to have a couples massage but never got around to it. On Thursday, they had 50% off massages but we didn't book in time. Check it out if you're interested.
At Your Service - Telephone Concregie - We had a "mini" suite, so no Neptune Lounge, the alternative is "at your service", you push the button on the phone and they tend to all your needs. We used it quite a bit.
Laundry Service - We used the laundry service. It was $12 for all you could fit in a laundry bag they provide to you. My husband’s tee-shirts were ironed! He'll be disappointed when I do the laundry!
Activities - we didn't participate in too many, we did a couple of the trivia games, there was a lot going on if one is interested in participating.
Entertainment - Liars Club - this was very entertaining. Oosterdam Superstars - HAL's version of American Idol...it was ok.
JOEL MASON - All caps because he deserves it. This was very entertaining and funny...he is a great entertainer!
Mike Robinson - comedian was very good as well.
The Cruise Director and Cruise Activity staff – were great. Vuk is very entertaining and cute too! Michelle, Joe, Chris and Matt were awesome!
Cruise Critic Gathering – My bad…I got the impression from these boards they HAL planned this, but reading today, we needed to plan it. I regret that I didn’t make arrangements for that to happen. I did run into a couple of people who booked Orca Enterprises because of this board. Also…several people on that excursion for the Z-dam who were cruise critic members.
Mariners Gathering – I was invited, but did not attend (I was at the spa). I did get my tile in our cabin.
The cruise easily met and exceeded our expectations. It was a wonderful experience. All the staff we ran into were helpful, friendly and eager to serve us.