Just back from the Oosterdam...

We flew in from San Francisco, (we took a red eye) and got to Ft Lauderdale around 11:00, by the time we got our bags and caught a cab it was close to noon. Check in seemed smooth to me, the line was long but moved quickly.

We were upgraded from a category BA to SS (8043) which was a nice surprise. We boarded the ship and were directed to the Lido for lunch, our cabin was ready around1:15.

We ate in the Pinnacle grill the first night, and I have to say that I was disappointed. The potatoes were dry, the asparagus was soggy, I had the chicken marsala and it was salty. The volcano cake was fabulous though, as were the crab cakes. But for the price, in my opinion it wasn't worth it. The food was far better in the dining room.

The food up in the Lido was very good, the selection was excellent and everything was fresh and tasted very good. My only complaint is how crowded it gets, but HAL can't do anything about that! At peak times the Lido is a zoo and it's difficult to get around.

As always the crew was fantastic. They all work so hard and are so friendly, and it seems to me that there are less of them so they are working twice as hard. Yet they are still just as friendly and helpful as ever. We enjoyed getting to know many of them. (Alexander, Daya, Diddith, Banu, Deri, Ernesto, Mydel, George, Vic and John)

We toured the Oosterdam when it was in San Francisco in May and in my opinion, she seems to be showing some wear and tear especially on the carpets. It's hard to say if the carpet just looks dirty or if it really is. But the ship itself is very clean, they cleaned our balcony twice during the week. The new beds are wonderful, and the coffee in the Windstar is wonderful and in my opinion worth every penny.

We were unable to go to Half Moon Cay because the weather was bad, and I was surprised to hear people complaining about it. And I actually heard someone say they should get 'reimbursed or some sort of compensation'. I don't know why that surprises me, but it does. The Captain tried for 2 hours to maneuver the ship so we could get on the tenders, but it just wasn't meant to be. You could see the surf was really rough and it was windy. I was sad we didn't make it to Half Moon Cay but I certainly understood.

We had a great time and I was very sad when the week was over. I would go on the Oosterdam again.

If you have any questions let me know and I'll do my best to answer them!

Thank you!

i have some questions...

your room, could you have the door to the balcony open without using a bungee cord or anythign?

was the hairdryer powerful enough? was there a DVD player in your SS? what about the personalized stationary?

What kind of table did you get for dinner? did you have early or main seating upper or lower?

did you visit the casino? was it a nice size?

do you remember what kind of activites they had durring the day? (i.e. crafts, cooking classes, dance lessons?)

was the pool water fresh or salt? were there a lot of children on board??

thank you so much.

We are going on her in less than 3 weeks so i am very excited!

Thanks TriGirl!

I'm surprised and sorry that you didnt enjoy your dinner in the Pinnacle - as we enjoyed our dinners there and a pal just recently returned from his ODam cruise where he hosted a dinner party there that everyone enjoyed.

I have heard that the some of the surfaces in the ship aren't wearing well - I noted that when I was aboard too. Hopefully will be addressed in drydock.

Thank you!

i have some questions...

your room, could you have the door to the balcony open without using a bungee cord or anythign?

was the hairdryer powerful enough? was there a DVD player in your SS? what about the personalized stationary?

 

What kind of table did you get for dinner? did you have early or main seating upper or lower?

 

did you visit the casino? was it a nice size?

do you remember what kind of activites they had durring the day? (i.e. crafts, cooking classes, dance lessons?)

 

was the pool water fresh or salt? were there a lot of children on board??

 

thank you so much.

 

We are going on her in less than 3 weeks so i am very excited!

The balcony doors do not stay open, as that can adversely affect the performance of the AC. I made the mistake of propping my balcony door open the first night and woke up to rain in my suite (condensation on the AC)

Yes, SS's have DVD and personalized stationary and the new more powerful hairdriers - look for it in a top drawer of the desk between the wardrobes and the sofa. The Casino is also a nice size w/ plenty of tables and slot machines. And yes, the pools are fresh water...

I was on this cruise, too. We really enjoyed it until about the fifth day or so, and then we were eagerly counting the days until we could return home. The crew were amazing and worked so hard. I was really impressed with them.

I knew nothing about any cruiseships before this cruise, so I really had no idea what to expect. I thought cruises were supposed to be a lot more fun than this one was. The food was overrated and I don't think the free glass of champaign made up for missing Half Moon Cay. I realize that it wasn't the captain's fault that the tenders couldn't be launched or whatever, but I do think an alternative should have been posed. They really did NOTHING to make the second day in a row at sea bearable. It was awful and everyone we talked to was walking around in a daze, bored out of their skulls. My husband doesn't want to go on another cruise, but I would like to give it another go someday...maybe with a younger cruiseline.

Edited to add that the coffee was absolutely disgusting! I get shivers thinking about how truly awful it tasted! I had tea every day, because I couldn't stomach the travesty they dared to claim was coffee.

You'll either need a bungee cord or something to prop the door open if you want the fresh air. We just wedged the trash can in the door and that worked fine.

We didn't have a chance to get in the pool so I don't know if they are fresh or salt water. There were some kids onboard, but we really didn't them that much. I think the HAL children programs are very good and they seemed to keep them busy.

I have REALLY thick hair and the hair dryer wasn't strong enough for me. I would have been there forever. You also have to hold the on button down while you are drying your hair so I didn't even bother.

The SS cabins don't count as a full suite so we didn't get the stationery or access to the Neptune Lounge, but we did meet a couple staying in a full suite and they said the Neptune Lounge was fantastic. we did have a DVD player in the cabin but we never had time to rent a movie. They do show movies on the tv and in the Queens Lounge.

There were lots of planned activities everyday, team trivia, pictionary, pool games to name a few. I know there were some other things like a kitchen tour and some 'how to' activities like how to make a martini. There always seemed to be enough to do.

We didn't gamble, but the casino is a good size and has all the standard table games and slot machines.

We had the main seating (8:00) in the upper dining room. We had a table for four but we were alone, which was fine. The ship wasn't full so we didn't bother trying to move. Our waiter was wonderful.

I hope I answered all your questions...you'll have a great time on the Oosterdam!

 

...and I don't think the free glass of champaign made up for missing Half Moon Cay. I realize that it wasn't the captain's fault that the tenders couldn't be launched or whatever, but I do think an alternative should have been posed. They really did NOTHING to make the second day in a row at sea bearable. It was awful and everyone we talked to was walking around in a daze, bored out of their skulls. My husband doesn't want to go on another cruise, but I would like to give it another go someday...maybe with a younger cruiseline.

Firsttime-

Sorry you didn't enjoy your experience, however there really is no alternative to HMC that the captain or ship's staff could have presented other than a day at sea. When the captain can't safely tender passengers ashore at a port, he can't simply drive the ship over over to the next island in an hour or two like you can drive your SUV over to the next mall. Even if there were a port nearby, he most likely would not be allowed to anchor and allow passengers to disembark because ports reserve ships anchorages and make arrangements with the lines for passengers to come ashore far, far in advance of your arrival.

As far as making sea days "bearable" - you're on a cruise. Many people cruise because they enjoy being on a ship and find the experience relaxing...

 

Edited to add that the coffee was absolutely disgusting! I get shivers thinking about how truly awful it tasted! I had tea every day, because I couldn't stomach the travesty they dared to claim was coffee.

You may find it hard to believe, but that coffee is an 'improvement' over the coffee made from concentrated syrup. Whew, that was really baaad coffee. Even dilution w/hot water didn't help much....

Happy cruising....

You'll either need a bungee cord or something to prop the door open if you want the fresh air. We just wedged the trash can in the door and that worked fine.

 

 

 

TriGirl--

There's a reason that the balcony doors close themselves...

Propping balcony doors open is a bad idea (as I discovered) because it overtaxes the ships AC system. Many folks complain about ships AC not working properly & this is one of the main reasons. Not only does it affect your cabin, but it also affects all the other cabins that your AC unit serves...

Brian, so totally right. Under no circumstances should anyone be thinking of ways to prop the door open. They do everything possible to make it impossible anyway. There is nowhere you could bugee cord. I didn't heed my own advice on the Maasdam the first night and propped open the door with the ice bucket (which was all banged up anyway), but I knew I could mess up the AC system and didn't do it again.

The more sea days the better for us!!! I purposely pick cruises with more sea days. I have never been bored on a ship for one second. But cruising isn't for everyone.

TriGirl, lucky lucky you!! Upgraded to an SS! We visited friends in an SS on our cruise and I couldn't believe the difference in the size of both the room and the verandah. What a terrific surprise for you.

So glad you enjoyed your cruise and good for you for understanding that HAL couldn't tender you in to HMC. We are, after all, at the mercy of the sea:) .

Hi there-We are booked on the O'Dam in March and have booked a cat SS on deck 8 (8081) and I'm wondering if there are any problems with being on this deck? Any noise from the buffet area above? Any overhangs that block the sun from the balcony? And the sofa that converts to a bed, when I was on the Westerdam a few weeks ago it looked like it's a sofa bed but it's so large it looks like it's the size of a double or queen, how big is it really?

As for the coffee, I'm very surprised, when we were on the Westerdam for a short couple of days, I didn't have any problems with the coffee on that ship. I'm just sorry I didn't check out the cabins on deck 8 while I was there!

We were in 8086 on O-dam - and there was no noise from above, below or either side unless one was outside on the verandah - except for hearing the breakfast carts being rolled down the corridor in the am's.

Yes, the Lido Deck above naturally limits the amount of sun that one gets except at sunrise or sunset - depending on which way the ship is pointed. The only open-air verandahs are at the stern. We found our verandah the perfect spot for breakfasting, reading the ships schedule & napping as well as enjoying a glass of bubbly while sailing away from whatever island before dinner.

We found plenty of deckchairs and sunloungers on the Observation Deck fantails overlooking the aft Lido to get a nice little sunburn...

Can't answer your question about the sofa - tho I seem to recall a comfy nap under a woollen blanket on the sofa one afternoon...

Thanks! We're going to be in 8081 so I appreciate the quick response from someone that was in the same area. We are usually up by 7 a.m. and out on the balcony so I don't think the cart will bother us too much. I was in a balcony on deck 5 earlier this month and deck 6 jutted out above us pretty far and blocked our early/late sun, that was what I was worried about. Also on deck 5 in most of the mid ship cabins, you look down on the lifeboats not water. We were originally on deck 6 for this cruise (SS) and I checked out those cabins but didn't look at any on deck 8. I would REALLY have loved to get one of those aft cabins (my favorite part of any ship!) but couldn't get one that held 3 people. When side by sides came up this weekend that my sister and her family could be next to us in, we grabbed them on deck 8.

Can't wait to sail again in March!! I can feel the sun already as I sit snuggly on my warm balcony, coffee cup in hand with the sweet smell of the sea......can you tell it's cold here today??!!! Buuurrrr!!!