Trip Report - from 11/6 Oosterdam Southern Caribbean

Wanted to share our experience on the October 26, 2015 11-Night Oosterdam Southern Caribbean cruise we just finished.

We are in our mid-50s, started cruising about 15 years ago, and have been on Carnival (~8 times), RCI (~35 times), and have now switched to HAL (this was our second). Both the quality of service and behavior of guests have turned us away from the first two lines. I have been fortunate, in that I not only found my perfect mate 18 years ago but shortly afterwards found my perfect job match too, which allows us to truly spoil ourselves, if only in our travels.

We originally booked an aft-corner SB Neptune suite on Deck 5, as we had that room on a prior cruise (Alaska) and wanted the wrap-around balcony again. As the cruise got closer, we noticed that both Pinnacle Suites (PS) had not been booked. I saw postings saying that within 30 days, HAL typically sends out "do you want an upgrade?" offers, and we decided we'd do that if it were offered. Twenty one days out, both PS's were still open and we were anxiously watching our email. I think it was 19 days out, when my wife yells up to my office "WE GOT THE EMAIL!!! WE GOT THE EMAIL!!!". I jumped on the phone before I could even open the email and scooped up the last available Pinnacle. You have to be quick, I found out, as this was all within 15 minutes of HAL sending it out. We were sooooo excited about this trip now, and it ended up being even better than we anticipated.

We signed up for the Anniversary Sale, which included $400pp in on-board credit which said it had to be used for shore excursions but turns out was just an on-board credit that could be used for anything, $50pp drink card, 100 minutes of Internet Usage, and one dinner for 2 each at Pinnacle Grill and Canaletto. We ended up skipping Canaletto and were quite surprised to have a credit on our final bill for $9 each.

Before the trip we booked one HAL shore excursion for St Kitts, a villa for Half Moon Cay, and used shoreexcursions.com for ones in St Lucia and Barbados - this will turn out to be interesting later. One disadvantage of the Anniversary package (the only one in our minds) is that you can't book anything in advance and use the on-board credit – tours have to be booked onboard.

Embarkation Day - Port Everglades

We arrived a bit early - wanting to maximize our vacation - at around 10:30. Normally they would start boarding at 11:30 but they were a little delayed due to a coast guard inspection. As soon as the first person saw we were in a PS we were literally whisked around. No line for checking in which was a pretty painless process. We were then handed over to a supervisor who took us to an area in the upstairs part of the terminal. She asked us to stay put and she would get us to escort us to the ship as soon as we were allowed. Right at noon and before any boarding started, she came and took us (past the photographers) on to meet the hotel manager who escorted us to the Neptune Lounge to meet the concierges Laurence and Crista and then to our stateroom.

I can pretty much sum up the Pinnacle Suite with one word - WOW. As you walk in, there's a pantry to the left with a commercial refrigerator, commercial microwave (much higher power than at home - be warned), sink, toaster, mixer, juicer, and a Keurig coffee machine. The fridge was stocked with mini-bar items, but there was a lot of room for us to put things too. There were French Roast pods for the Keurig. Our understanding is that in 2016 this will be replaced with a coffee/espresso maker. To the right walking in is the guest bathroom with sink and separate wc room. In the cabin is a dining room with table for 4 and sliding glass doors to balcony, a small desk area with window, living room with couch, recliner, 2 chairs, table, large-screen tv and stereo system, and a murphy bed under the tv. Bedroom on other side of cabin had king bed, makeup area, and small desk, master bath with 3 sinks, shower, hydro-tub (complete with water coming out of the mouth of Neptune on a wall sculpture), and toilet and bidet. Out on the balcony (60 feet long - there's 5 cabins on the decks below and above in the same space as this room) there's 4 loungers, a built-in bench seat and dining table, 2 chairs, and a hot tub. It was just wonderful. Fun facts: 40 light switches, 5 phones, 2 TVs, 7 electric curtain switches, 5 sinks, 2 toilets. There was also a bottle of champagne and a bottle of water with a welcome note.

We then decided to tour the ship and have lunch. We had been on the Oosterdam a few years ago for an Alaska cruise. That trip was a gift from my company, and we were with a group of about 80 people. As we toured the ship this time, we realized how much we never saw the last time we were on the ship. First thing we noticed was the demographics of the other passengers. We were definitely on the younger side. Reminded us of a city called The Villages here in Florida – anyone who’s been there knows what I mean. Most of the people we met were well traveled, and we were surprised at the number of people we met that were doing back-to-back trips. The other thing that surprised us was how empty the ship always seemed (except when trying to get a table in the Lido) - constantly calling elevators that arrive empty, no one walking in hallways. Went to the Lido for lunch, and had our first taste of not being able to find a table to sit at. Muster drill was pretty non-eventful. We went back to the room to enjoy our champagne in the hot tub on the balcony for sail-away – one of those “priceless American Express” moments. Leaving Port Everglades, I look over at my wife and jokingly say “This sucks”. That became the inside-joke mantra for the trip.

We are kind of traditionalists, and did fixed time early dining. 5:45p is a little early for us, but 8:30 for second seating is definitely too late for us. Service and food were both above what we expected in the main dining room for the entire trip. My wife set the goal of not gaining any weight on this 11 day trip (she was successful), and most nights ordered either a large salad or soup for dinner. I did my best to order only things I’ve not had before and was very happy with everything. After dinner we went to the casino for a while. I wanted to try out a new blackjack betting strategy I’d been practicing on simulators for weeks. Minimums at night were $10. I didn’t notice until late in the cruise, but they do lower the minimums during the day to $5. After winning about $200 in 20 minutes, I got cold feet and left the table. We then went to the BB Kings Blues Club (Queens Lounge) and watched their show. These guys killed it – we went to see them a few times during the trip. Spent the rest of the evening on the balcony snuggled up watching the ocean and stars – a frequent activity for the week.

Days 2 and 3 – At Sea

One of the reasons we chose this itinerary was that it started with 2 days at sea and ended with a day at sea and a day at Half Moon Cay. This was a perfect way to “get in the mood” for cruising. Ordered room service breakfast. They said 20-30 minutes, and it took maybe 10. Everything was hot, pretty much same as going to Lido (except it’s way easier to find a seat on our balcony). Spent most of the day relaxing outside, and did the Mixology class at 3. Mixology was a 3-class offering, and they teach basic bar skills and how to make 3 different drinks at each session. This class was hosted by Stone, who is the Host of the Culinary Center on the ship. Stone was pretty new to the job, and was just fantastic. We ended up going to several events that she was hosting. After showing you how to make the drinks, they poured a sample size for each participant. Then they asked trivia questions – and whoever answered got a full-size serving of the drink. Having my wife at a trivia game is like having Michael Jordan at a basketball pick-up game – not even fair to the other people. Iif we could find a way to make money off the quantities of useless info in her brain, we’d be cruising every other month. The bartenders teaching were a lot of fun. Each ingredient was “xxxx amount of <fill in the alcohol>, OR MORE…….” I can’t mix a drink now without hearing that in my head.

The second sea day, we tried breakfast in Pinnacle. This was pretty much what you would get in the dining room, but a nicer atmosphere. We only took advantage of this perk a couple of times during the trip. Spent most of this day on the balcony, in exploration of the ship, power-walking on the Promenade deck, and further relaxing on the balcony. After dinner, we relaxed and went to see the BB King Blues band again.

Day 4 – St Martin

We had been in St Martin before, and didn’t really plan anything for the day. I went ashore in search of a cable to connect our ipads/iphones to the room’s stereo system. Being able to listen to our music on the balcony was great. The hard part was trying to make sure we weren’t bothering anyone, and we let the rooms next to us know to please tell us if it bothered them. We’d been on several cruises where people were not considerate of noise from their balcony, and we didn’t want to be one of these people.

Day 5 – St Lucia

We had booked with shorex for the St Lucia Snorkeling Adventure. We had no idea how “adventurous” this would turn out to be. One of the reasons we picked this one is that it started at 9:15am, and was supposed to be around 4 hours – which would give us plenty of time to shop or explore around the port area. We figured we’d be back by 1:30p and still have 2 hours before we needed to be back aboard. After waiting a bit in the terminal, we were picked up by van (there were 6 other people from our ship that we didn’t know), taken to Marigot where the dive/snorkel center is. We went to 2 different snorkel locations, and had lunch between the two stops. The snorkeling spots, equipment, staff, were great. The second stop is about 45 minutes from the diving/snorkel center, and that was about 30 minutes by van to the ship. I look at my watch and it’s almost 2:30! Yikes!! I go talk to the captain, and he tells me we’ll drop people at their dock and then he’ll take us directly to the ship on the dive boat. They also called the port and were told that we were leaving at 3:30 instead of 4. At this point tension amongst the Oosterdam guests was getting higher. They then decided they would not drop the other people first and head directly to the port. So now it’s 3:30, and we’re still not at the port. We have our bathing suits, flip-flops, and $60 dollars and are facing the prospect of finding our way to Barbados on our own. We finally get to the port. They had already pulled some of the lines, and you could see they had the thrusters powered up holding the ship to the dock. They pulled the dive boat up at 50 feet behind the Oosterdam so we could run aboard. As we’re boarding we hear the Captain announce that he “could see the people we’re waiting for, so we’ll be leaving in a few minutes”. The ship was moving within 5 minutes of our getting aboard. We headed directly to the Lido bar where I had a tequilla shot (almost unheard of for me!) and a Margarita, and a double Jack and Coke for my wife. Took about 2 hours to stop shaking and breaking out laughing. That night we ate dinner in the Pinnacle grill. Steaks were both excellent, and service was great.

After the cruise, I did contact shorex to relate our experience. I didn’t ask for or expect anything from them and made that point at the start of the call. I thought they should know about what happened and why they were likely to have lost a customer in the future – something I would like to know if it were my customer. I had a good conversation with someone there, and they seemed very concerned and had me give them a very detailed account of what happened. They did ask what they could do to earn our business in the future, ad gave us a refund for part of the missed tour anyway.

Day 6 – Barbados

Well, we had another excursion booked through shoreex that gave us even less leeway time than the one in St Lucia, and decided we’d pass – even knowing we’d probably not get a refund. No way we were going to even have a chance of repeating the stress from the day before. There were no tours from the ship available that we wanted. We went outside the terminal and at the taxi stand you can purchase from a selection of tours lasting from 1 to 4 hours. We took a leisurely tour around the island with a very knowledgeable driver. Afterwards we spent some time shopping in the port building, and tried to meet up with a friend that works on the Brilliance of the Seas which was also in port. We were reminded why we don’t sail on RCI as the Brilliance left port shortly before we did, and some guy was on his balcony unintelligibly screaming at our ship as they passed.

This was Halloween night, and we signed up for the Pub Crawl complete with costumes. What a blast it was. We had a group of about 30 people. We started at the Lido bar, and stopped at 3 other bars on our way to ending at the Queen’s lounge. It was a bit of a rowdy group, and we definitely got some “looks” as the group moved through the ship answering “CRAWL CRAWL CRAWL” every time the leader yelled “PUB PUB PUB”. This was also hosted by Stone, and she did a great job. At each bar there was a feature drink and some type of bar game involved. The event ended at the Queens Lounge where the BB Blues band was going full out and the dance floor was packed.

Day 7 – Martinique

It was Sunday in Martinique and almost everything was closed. We spent some time walking around the port area, and exploring the remains of a fort the guarded the port. We signed up for one of the ship’s excursions. I don’t remember the exact name of the tour, but it’s a 2-stop snorkeling tour that features a site with caves that are filled with bats. It sounds creepy, but it was a great experience. You can swim part-way into these caves and see the bats hanging from the walls and ceiling. In a chamber way in the back you can see them flying around. We then went to a second site and then back to the ship. This tour was well-organized and we really enjoyed ourselves on it.

Day 8 – St Kitts

We scheduled the St Kitts Scenic Railway tour. I would highly suggest this one – a great way to see lots of the island and get a lot of history. The train cars have an open upstairs and a closed-in downstairs and you have seats in both areas. Various rum drinks and soda and water were included. During the trip, they talk about the history of the island. It was great fun as they went by schools, the kiddies would run out to the fence to see the train and wave at everyone – they were adorable. This is a really beautiful island, and I would love to return some day.

Docked across from us was a Celebrity ship – think it was the Reflection. Helpful note to cruisers – if you can see people on another ship, they can see you – you are not invisible. This is both for the guy on the Reflection in just his underwear on his balcony as we departed, and the very elderly topless woman in the starboard Presidential suite on the Oasis which was next to us in St Thomas.

Day 9 – St Thomas

We’ve been to St Thomas many times, so didn’t make any plans. One of the crew told us about wifi at the Filipino market at the port, and we went to use that to check in with the kids, etc. Cellphones were ok there too – at least for our AT&T plan. Shortly after we pulled in, the Oasis docked across from us. It then opened its 4 hangar-sized doors and what looked like vomited four or five thousand people on to the quay. We spent the remainder of the day on the balcony. We decided to skip dinner and go to the Lido. We did go down to let our waiter know we wouldn’t be there (they were using tables in our area as overflow for “as you wish” dining. Another great touch – our headwaiter told us we could order anything from the dining room menu for room service, and he’d make sure we got it right away. Didn’t avail ourselves of that, but it was a nice touch. We were invited to a Pub Crawl reunion. Only a few people showed, so they cancelled it and offered us a complimentary drink for showing up.

Days 10 and 11 – At Sea and Half Moon Cay

So nice to have another sea day at the end of the trip. Another mostly-balcony day. We had the third of the three mixology classes, and all graduated with honors. This was a Gala Night, and they served the traditional Surf and Turf at dinner. I was surprised at the quality and size of the lobster, much better than we had experienced before.

The next day was Half Moon Cay. We decided to splurge, and got one of the 2-story cabanas and “butler service”. The service included a Pinnacle Grill lunch served at the villa, unlimited drinks on the island, and someone to serve during the day. We were given a menu the day before to choose our lunch options, and they also supplied floating mats and snorkel gear. At the appointed time, we got a call from the concierge asking if he could send our butler to our room to escort us down to the tender. The whole thing was a totally extravagant experience, and the perfect way to end the cruise. The open villa has 2 stories. We chose villa E, since it seemed farther from the crowds. Upstairs is a kitchen, bathroom with shower, dining and sitting areas. Also a fan and air conditioner. Downstairs was a four-person hot tub, and more seating and lounge chairs. We rented one of the Hobie Cats, and conditions were great for sailing that day. We did see people have to get towed in later in the day – not something you should attempt if you don’t know how to sail. For lunch, they served gazpacho with fruit skewers for appetizer, huge grilled shrimp and veggies, and then spiked fruit for dessert. We spent some time in the water, and just hung out in the cabana. When it was time to go, we were escorted back bypassing the security line to get the tender back to the boat.

One of the things we noticed was that hardly anyone got off at Half Moon Cay. My guess was that only one half or less of the guests went. We asked someone about this and they told us “they don’t like taking the tenders”.

Debarkation

Arrived at Port Everglades around 7, and they started disembarking at around 8. Our ride wasn’t coming until 9:30, so we had breakfast in the Pinnacle and just hung out until 9. By the time we left, most people had already left the ship, but there was still a long line at customs. I saw a sign for Global Entry and had my card with me, but my wife is not enrolled. When I asked, I was told that we both could go through that with no wait anyway.

Bottom line – we had the trip of a lifetime. The PS experience made such a difference that we will likely wait longer between cruises to save up for it again.

Larry

sounds a blast!! now if only those lottery numbers wold come up!

I think I just enjoyed your trip as much as you did. Thank you for such a lovely review. It was so nice to hear your light hearted enthusiasm and your appreciation of the finer things without "rubbing it in" :).

Sonja

Thank you for your wonderful review.

Glad you had a wonderful cruise.

Just to let you know -- we also love the PS suites and book them as often as we can.

Wow what a fabulous cruise and review. Love all the detail about the suite - likely the closest I will ever get to one!

Great review, very well written. Thanks!

Thank you for your great review.

Scary story about that St Lucia your return, yikes!!!

Glad you had a great trip. We are doing this itinerary next year on Koningsdam.

Thx so much for your review. The ph is really something special. I enjoyed your comments about the mixology classes. I was intending to do one on my last cruise but it didn't work out. Love the comments about folks on their balcony thinking they are invisible. I often think the same thing about folks.

Thank you for your review.

Great review - we will certainly use some of your points in our coming (3 weeks) cruise.

We also have the deck 5 aft-wrap (love this suite) and have been offered an upsell to the Pinnacle Suite for $1200 pp on our 11 day. Do you mind saying how this compares to your offer (I thought it was a bit high since the current price difference is only $2300 (Neptune to Pinnacle)).

Reading your review was like taking a virtual cruise. Thanks for posting it! I've never thought the PS was worth the cost, but you're making me re-think that!

Just to clarify, you said that early fixed dining was 5:45? That's better than the5:15 I had on my last cruise.

Glad to hear you enjoyed the train ride in St Kitts. We did that a few years ago and thought it was really well done.

Sounds like you had a totally wonderful cruise. I really enjoyed your report!:)

We're doing the same cruise on Dec. 7, so thank you for the great review and tips. Our first time on HAL, so we can't wait.

Thank you for your trip report.

Keith

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.

Glad you had a great cruise.

I thought our Southern Caribbean cruises were great---can't imagine having the PS, too!!! Great review!

Great review - we will certainly use some of your points in our coming (3 weeks) cruise.

 

We also have the deck 5 aft-wrap (love this suite) and have been offered an upsell to the Pinnacle Suite for $1200 pp on our 11 day. Do you mind saying how this compares to your offer (I thought it was a bit high since the current price difference is only $2300 (Neptune to Pinnacle)).

Our offer was for $900/pp. Both PSs were open. It was funny, because I was in such a hurry to call in and couldn't get the attachment open before I was speaking to them. I said "I just got your upsell email, I can't open the attachment to see how much - but we'll take it!!!". It was lower than I expected, and lower than I've seen on other posts for other cruises - my guess is because both were available.

Both were gone within 20 minutes of the email going out though.

Reading your review was like taking a virtual cruise. Thanks for posting it! I've never thought the PS was worth the cost, but you're making me re-think that!

 

Just to clarify, you said that early fixed dining was 5:45? That's better than the5:15 I had on my last cruise.

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed the train ride in St Kitts. We did that a few years ago and thought it was really well done.

Actually dinner said "5:30-5:45". They were closing one of the doors at 5:45 and both of them at 6. I did see them turn away people that were late (being late for fixed dining is a pet peeve of mine - rude to the staff).

The train ride was wonderful. It reminded me of the Little Train that Could.

Our offer was for $900/pp. Both PSs were open. It was funny, because I was in such a hurry to call in and couldn't get the attachment open before I was speaking to them. I said "I just got your upsell email, I can't open the attachment to see how much - but we'll take it!!!". It was lower than I expected, and lower than I've seen on other posts for other cruises - my guess is because both were available.

 

Both were gone within 20 minutes of the email going out though.

That was a great deal! As I mentioned, mine was $1200 pp for the same length cruise on the same ship a month later! We also paid the full price on our SB cabin, so that could not have been why the difference.

Thanks for the information.

Actually dinner said "5:30-5:45". They were closing one of the doors at 5:45 and both of them at 6. I did see them turn away people that were late (being late for fixed dining is a pet peeve of mine - rude to the staff).

 

The train ride was wonderful. It reminded me of the Little Train that Could.

Thanks. On Veendam early fixed was 5:15. Being late for fixed dining annoys me, too. I was surprised that a couple at our table arrived at least a half hour later than that three nights in a row. On top of which, she ordered like Meg Ryan--no ice in her water, sauces on the side, can I have the vegetables from this instead of that...

Thanks. On Veendam early fixed was 5:15. Being late for fixed dining annoys me, too. I was surprised that a couple at our table arrived at least a half hour later than that three nights in a row. On top of which, she ordered like Meg Ryan--no ice in her water, sauces on the side, can I have the vegetables from this instead of that...

I really dislike it when people are late for the fixed dining time. If you cannot be on time (and not hold everyone else up) then you should either get a table for 2 or just use Open dining.

That coupled with numerous order exceptions (not just a couple) usually indicates a person who is all about getting attention however they can. Sad.....

I really dislike it when people are late for the fixed dining time. If you cannot be on time (and not hold everyone else up) then you should either get a table for 2 or just use Open dining.

 

That coupled with numerous order exceptions (not just a couple) usually indicates a person who is all about getting attention however they can. Sad.....

That's one of the reasons I no longer do traditional. There was always several people late for dinne because they were out taking pics etc. It's disrespectful to the staff and other tablemates.

WOW! What a wonderful review of your cruise..:):):)

Thanks for sharing it with us..

Which nights were the gala nights on the cruise? Trying to plan when to schedule Pinnacle dinner. Thanks in advance!