Oosterdam Jan 12, 2008 just back

[martini cruiser]

Returned home from the Oct 12, 2008 Oosterdam with mixed feelings.
Just wanted to give a few pro's and con's.

Food/Bar/Service

1- I felt that the food service, quaility was far below usual HAL standards. The service form our servers while polite was had no personality, maybe beause of the full ship? We found that our cold & hot foods were both luke warm,just not the usuual HAL standard.

2- Th Pinnacle was great, we ate there the 1st and last nights.

3- Lido good variety, no complaints.

4-Room service, spotty especially for breakfast 2 mornings the pre order was not delivered, and when questioned they had no record of the order?

5- Lido deck bar servers, BOOZE, BOOZE, BOOZE and Ryan were fantastic!

6-Room stewards excellent for all 8 of our cabins.

HAL
1-The new luggaage service- This worked well for 13 of the 15 that used it. But 1 couple had a problem, they were told, (Some were not fore warned) to check in the customs area under their color code just to make sure that thier luggage was not there. Sure enough 2 of the 4 pieces were there, 1 was taken by a porter before they could get to it, the other they took to the airport and checked it in themselves. HAL did DHL the missing piece to them today. For the others it worked like clock work and we would use this again if offered.

2- We had ( in writing) that the aft verandahs would all open up, but they did not all open. I had this in e mails from the previous Hotel manager, James Deering and several others. To HAL's credit they did send up 8 workers from engineering at 7pm the sailing date to take down the partions that would not open.

The Dreaded Dress Code Issue-

I had told my group no Jeans in the dining room, well there was a large group that did not get the message. On the 1st night in the Pinnacle several in jeans, this made me look bad for insisiting on the no jeans thing. The 2nd night in the Main dining quite a few more in shorts, cut offs and jeans. The jeans were allowed , but the shorts were turned away. By far and away this was the most casual dressed cruise I've ever been on with HAl or Princess. The large group were affilated with a food company.

I'll try to get to the rest later.

Some of the 1st time cruisers in my group got a little loud, hopefully they did not disturb anyone.

Martini Cruiser

[Sundagger]

Thanks for the information. Did you have As You Wish dining or Traditional (fixed time) dining?

I was on the cruise previous to yours and was on Code Red the entire week. The room service breakfast was good, but erratic delivery times. I was upstairs in the dining room for most of the week and had excellent stewards and the foods were always at the appropriate temperature. The formal nights were more formal there than downstairs according to reports.

[localady]

Thanks for your review.:D
Can you tell me, is the ship past it's Code Red status??

[hammybee]

Thank you for your review.

Jeans are indeed allowed on HAL, in the dining room, as they now are on most cruise lines. Interesting to hear that those in shorts were turned away at the gate.

It must have been spectacular to eventually have the entire aft opened. What a way to sail.

[FlorenceItaly]

Thanks for posting! I was hoping someone from this sailing would :). I am looking forward to any other comments you may have.



Marie

[dam1050]

Thanks for this info. We're sailing Oosterdam soon as well, and were wondering what the dinner hours are for the Lido now that the new AYWD has commenced.

[MomC]

Pleazzzzzzz! What has happened to our society that people can't put on a pair of Dockers for a fine dining experience? Don't get me wrong, I like casual as much as the next person, but anyone who would wear jeans in a fine restaurant (which I consider the main dining room to be) should be thrown overboard! I am only kidding. Walk the plank?? :>)

I have no problem with jeans in the Lido or if their luggage hasn't arrived, but come on people, this isn't McDonalds--nor, I hope, is this Carnival. I have always loved HAL because it catered to educated, worldly people who appreciated fine dining and showed it by dressing with respect. To me, this shows a total lack of respect, not only for the cruise line, but also for fellow diners.

Clothes don't make the man, but they do tell you a lot about his priorities and common sense. And NO, I am not an old fuddy duddy. I was just raised right.

Mom C

[CruiserBruce]

MomC:

I got your back on this one! I am with you all the way!

Some people say because they have paid for their cruise, they can do anything they want. So if they go slap $5 on the counter at McDonalds, they will get the steak they want? I don't think so! The business has the right to set the standard they want to set.

If I want to eat dinner in shorts, I will go to Burger King, or perhaps Carnival.

[byucougs]

Pleazzzzzzz! What has happened to our society that people can't put on a pair of Dockers for a fine dining experience? Don't get me wrong, I like casual as much as the next person, but anyone who would wear jeans in a fine restaurant (which I consider the main dining room to be) should be thrown overboard! I am only kidding. Walk the plank?? :>)

I have no problem with jeans in the Lido or if their luggage hasn't arrived, but come on people, this isn't McDonalds--nor, I hope, is this Carnival. I have always loved HAL because it catered to educated, worldly people who appreciated fine dining and showed it by dressing with respect. To me, this shows a total lack of respect, not only for the cruise line, but also for fellow diners.

Clothes don't make the man, but they do tell you a lot about his priorities and common sense. And NO, I am not an old fuddy duddy. I was just raised right.

Mom C

I am in agreement. This is very surprising to hear happening on HAL. Our last cruise was on the Pride of Hawaii, and none of our family of 5 wore jeans, even on NCL. Three of the 5 ranged in ages 16-23. I was very proud they dressed appropriately. They didnt whine at all when asked to bring polos/dockers, etc.

For us, going camping or hanging out at Disney... are for casual wear..... as is hiking a glacier, sailing a catamaran or other excursion type activity.

Thanks for the review Martini cruiser. I know we'll still have a great time on the Oosterdam for our upcoming Alaskan cruise.

[Sailing_to_where?]

I am new to the boards and haven't cruised in many years.

I was very impressed by the Oosterdam. Great shipboard activites, nice cabins, and the staff...how do the do what they do?? I was with a good sized group - no not the 570. The staff remembered our names and drink preferences. They couldn't have been more accommodating and plesant.
If anyone is looking for a great shore activity in Puerto Vallarta I highly recommend the Americas Cup Challenge. I will do it again if I have the chance.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

2- We had ( in writing) that the aft verandahs would all open up, but they did not all open. I had this in e mails from the previous Hotel manager, James Deering and several others. To HAL's credit they did send up 8 workers from engineering at 7pm the sailing date to take down the partions that would not open.

I am curious what deck were you on in the aft. This past March we were on deck 5 and on debarkation day we had gone to the Pinnacle for breakfast and when we returned to grab our carry ons to leave they were already out on the deck cleaning and all the small door between the verandahs were all open as they were hosing off the verandah. While it is not a very big door it is a door and does open between the verandahs. We plan to open these upfor all the cabins we have booked across the aft for the Yum Yum Man cruise.

[Jsipes]

Jeans/Levis are acceptable in the finest restaurants in Hollywood.....but they are not appropriate for the Vista/Rotterdams ..... It is a shame that the younger people in America have no desire to to things formally. All most want is a paper plate, a video game and a MP3 player. Imagine what we are headed for....an economic disaster of Biblical proportions. A society with absolutely no desire for anything formal......too bad. And most don't understand why their dress is not appropriate for formal dining..:) Jer the Bear

[Steve Q]

I totally agree that jeans are inappropriate in the Vista Dining room. Martini Cruiser, however, only stated that it was a "large group". I don't think the age of the people in jeans was ever mentioned.

As far as the inference that we are headed for "an economic disaster of biblical proportions" because young people dress in jeans and use MP3 players, I honestly do not know what to say. How could anyone take that comment seriously? The two are totally unrelated.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I am new to the boards and haven't cruised in many years.

I was very impressed by the Oosterdam. Great shipboard activites, nice cabins, and the staff...how do the do what they do?? I was with a good sized group - no not the 570. The staff remembered our names and drink preferences. They couldn't have been more accommodating and plesant.
If anyone is looking for a great shore activity in Puerto Vallarta I highly recommend the Americas Cup Challenge. I will do it again if I have the chance.

Welcome to Cruise Critic!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review, martini cruiser.

[Straughn]

I am disappointed to hear the HAL is allowing jeans in the main dining room. What's next--football jerseys and backwards baseball caps? My first HAL cruise is coming up (on the Oosterdam) and I was so looking forward to a better dressed/behaved crowd. This is the primary reason we have ditched RCCL and are trying a new cruise line. On our last RCCL cruise, every night in the dining room we were treated to a large number of football fans who thought dressing for dinner meant wearing a clean football jersey or oversized tank top and turning their baseball caps around correctly. Of course these were worn with jeans. The behaviour of these passengers indicated that they thought they at a football game. As for the demographics, they ranged in age from teenagers to senior citizens- male and female. We selected HAL because everything we read indicated that this would not be the case on HAL. Looks like we might be wrong!

[martini cruiser]

I'll try to answer as many questions as I can.

1-We did Main upper seating, fixed.

2-Code Red when we boarded but relaxed but day 2.

3-We were on deck 8, Navigation and 3 of the partitions did not have the little doors, so HAL took down the big middle partition all the way across, so we had a huge expanse with the 2 sb and the 6 Va's, same as we did on the Zuiderdam last year. ( same problem, same solution from HAL).

4- If the weather would have been warmer we would have had dinner (room service) on the verandahs as we did last year, a real treat!

5-As you can see I've been on a few cruises, and by far this was the most casually dressed cruise yet. I kind of like the more formal look but it's a personal preference, what I objected to were the super casual, IE football jerseys in the casino on formal night, it did spoil the ambiance.
I maybe old fashioned but I think dressing up 2 nights on a 7 night cruise is a nice touch, kind of like when you used to dress to fly.

We also did a shore excursion in Cabo with Oceanriders, a whale watch on a zodiac with 2 400hp engines that flew through the water.

I 'll have more info a little later, it's back to work for now.

Martini Cruiser

[gentlemancruiser]

Martini Cruiser - Can you give us your impressions of AYW? How did it work?

[martini cruiser]

We did not experience the AYW, but I did hear some negatives from some fellow passengers, the service seemed to be the big issue, with the relationship between the wait staff and the diners being not as close. No way for the staff to anticipate wishes, IE that you like shrimp cocktail every night, or hot sauce on everything. Other than that it seemed to be OK.

The Lido hours were extended, and there did seem to be more cruisers dinning there than on past cruises, maybe because of the large group, or because of AYW, I'm not sure which.

Martini Cruiser

[martini cruiser]

We did not experience the AYW, but I did hear some negatives from some fellow passengers, the service seemed to be the big issue, with the relationship between the wait staff and the diners being not as close. No way for the staff to anticipate wishes, IE that you like shrimp cocktail every night, or hot sauce on everything. Other than that it seemed to be OK.

The Lido hours were extended, and there did seem to be more cruisers dinning there than on past cruises, maybe because of the large group, or because of AYW, I'm not sure which.

Martini Cruiser

[hybrn8]

worked fine for us because, as I have said before we do not like assigned seating. That said, the service was about the same as it was on our last HAL trip - having lived abroad much of my life, I am used to eating in restaurants where being a waiter is a career, not just a pay check. I do not like to have to ask for refills of my water/tea or for more butter or whatever. We had to do so on this last Oosterdam trip but that was probably the Code Red as much as anything and the wait staff was harried.
The system for making reservations or just walking up to get a table is a bit of a joke - 2 nights we made reservations at inconvenient times and had to wait while walk-ups were seated!
We think the formal dining areas on most of these big ships have the ambience of grade school cafeterias - low ceilings, tables too close, and way too much racket. That is one reason we like the Pinnacle but on this last trip its food and service were not worth the extra charge.
The dress code, such as it was, seemed to be a matter of personal interpretation! We adhered to it but men in group won't wear tuxedos so nice suits were worn instead. There was a fair amount of 'mutton dressed as lamb' which was off-putting. I know jeans make some people nuts but babies & small children in the Pinnacle make me equally irritable.

[Roz]

Returned home from the Oct 12, 2008 Oosterdam with mixed feelings.

I'm confused....the title of this thread says you did the Jan. 12 itinerary, but the review says you cruised at a future date.

Confusion aside, I appreciate your comments and observations, since I'll be on the Oosterdam in March. I got my choice of late seating, but now I'm concerned that the wait staff will be so stressed from the Anytime Dining that we'll be an afterthought.

Roz

[martini cruiser]

[QUOTE][I'm confused....the title of this thread says you did the Jan. 12 itinerary, but the review says you cruised at a future date.

Confusion aside, I appreciate your comments and observations, since I'll be on the Oosterdam in March. I got my choice of late seating, but now I'm concerned that the wait staff will be so stressed from the Anytime Dining that we'll be an afterthought.

Roz/QUOTE]

The Oct 12th was a typo, that's what I get for tryimng to hurry, I did not proof read.

Sorry for the confusion!

Martini Cruiser

[hybrn8]

Seemed to me that the fellows in the anytime dining area were different from those in traditional dining area and that there was no overlap in their duties. However, am not sure how former impacts latter as it pertains to kitchen. The only reason traditional dining ever got started was so the ships could control the flow of passengers in and out of dining rooms! Think this is one of the things that the Azamara ships have yet to figure out though they have pretty well got it mastered on Oceania. Not everyone can eat at the same time, simple as that! (Unless it's a rubber chicken banquet and who wants that on vacation?)

[MomC]

I see where you said you were on the Navigation Deck--deck 8. We have two cabins on that deck--8070 in the middle and 8021 toward the front of the ship. Could you tell me where you were and if you heard noise from on top--the Lido deck? Not that we can change at this point, we sail February 9 and had guarantee cabins, but I would like to know.

Also, we are booked on the same excursion in Cabo that you were on with the Zodiac. My first time with this: wet? bumpy? dangerous? seatbelt?
I am adventurous, but have a wee bit of trepidation about this one. Could you tell me what to expect?

Thank you for your comments which have been most helpful.

Mom C

[Sundagger]

I'm confused....the title of this thread says you did the Jan. 12 itinerary, but the review says you cruised at a future date.

Confusion aside, I appreciate your comments and observations, since I'll be on the Oosterdam in March. I got my choice of late seating, but now I'm concerned that the wait staff will be so stressed from the Anytime Dining that we'll be an afterthought.

Roz

I was on the Jan. 5 Oosterdam when they initiated the AYW dining. The first night (when we boarded after 4 PM - me at 5:15PM) I ate in the Lido. They were sweeping and vacuuming broken china from the rolling of the ship, so it was a very atypical experience. The 2nd night I had AYW dining (in reality the first actual AYW night)- it was harried. It actually was a bit rushed - I was in and out in less than an hour, having ordered 4 or 5 courses. The rest of the trip I was at traditional dining (early) and the atmosphere was very different. Very nice pace of serving and the stewards did get to know some of my preferences. If you get the usually good HAL stewards, you should be fine.

[Roz]

Thanks for the first-hand account, Sundagger. Since my cruise is still 6+ weeks away, I'm hoping most of the bugs will be worked out.

Roz

[wee1np]

I am new to the boards and haven't cruised in many years.

I was very impressed by the Oosterdam. Great shipboard activites, nice cabins, and the staff...how do the do what they do?? I was with a good sized group - no not the 570. The staff remembered our names and drink preferences. They couldn't have been more accommodating and plesant.
If anyone is looking for a great shore activity in Puerto Vallarta I highly recommend the Americas Cup Challenge. I will do it again if I have the chance.
Glad to see you! I was part of the "Connecticut eight" aboard the Australia 29 racing sailboat, and also would give it two thumbs up. The dolphins swimming along with us didn't hurt the experience either. :)

[flybuddy]

Could you please tell me how cel phones worked both on the Oosterdam and in the Mexican ports?

[Sale Away]

Not that I would wear jeans into the dining room but this is what we get when you have people willing to pay $200-300 per pair for jeans. Guess those folks in the dining room thought they were wearing high fashion. :cool:

Flybuddy - I had my Blackberry (Verizon) last year with me. The only port where I seemed to get a decent signal was, as I recall, Puerto Vallarta. But I had problems with being able to hear the people on the other line but they didn't hear me.

[Boatdrill]

Pleazzzzzzz! What has happened to our society that people can't put on a pair of Dockers for a fine dining experience? Don't get me wrong, I like casual as much as the next person, but anyone who would wear jeans in a fine restaurant (which I consider the main dining room to be) should be thrown overboard! I am only kidding. Walk the plank?? :>)

I have no problem with jeans in the Lido or if their luggage hasn't arrived, but come on people, this isn't McDonalds--nor, I hope, is this Carnival. I have always loved HAL because it catered to educated, worldly people who appreciated fine dining and showed it by dressing with respect. To me, this shows a total lack of respect, not only for the cruise line, but also for fellow diners.

Clothes don't make the man, but they do tell you a lot about his priorities and common sense. And NO, I am not an old fuddy duddy. I was just raised right.

Mom C

I'm with you 100% ! :)

Jeans do not belong in the dining room, especially at dinner !!!!!

[martini cruiser]

Mom C

We were in the aft cabins 8135 to 8128, and the onlynoise we heard from the Lido was when they re arranged the deck chairs, but it was worth it as the Navigation deck has more privacy then the other decks, as it is screened from above by the overhang on the back.

On the last night at sea we did get a spraying of foam from the washing of the deck above, but it appeared to be much worse on deck 7 where the foam/water rained down.

As far as the Oceanriders Zodiac, this is not the HAL excursion. you have to walk over to the office next to what was Margaritaville. Then they board you on the Zodiac, where you sit in 2 rows astride, like on a horse but with a back rest. They take your shoes and you use your legs like when horseback riding to absorb some of the bumps. It was rather cool that day and we did get sprayed several times, but it was a lot of fun. I would recommend a windbreaker/raincoat or rain poncho and don't wear anything that can't get wet. Also they will store your camera in a waterproof bag untill needed, but if you have a waterproof camera that would be great. I had knee surgery 7 weeks before the trip and it was still OK for me.

We saw humpbacks, marlin, dolphins, sea lions, and they thought the spout of the blue whale, but no confirmed sighting.

Hope this helps, and I hope your weather will be warmer.

Martini Cruiser

[MomC]

Your answers have been most helpful. I think we are taking the same zodiac you did--we booked through Shoretrips, but meet at the desk for Ocean Riders.

Thanks for the raincoat suggestion. Sounds like a good idea.

Mom C

[martini cruiser]

Yes, we did book through Shore Trips and things could not have gone smoother.

We headed north first past Lovers beach etc. the starboard side got drenched first, then when we headed back to the Sea of Cortez the port side got it. I imagine on a warm summers day it would be fun to be cooled off, not in January.

Martini Cruiser