Spoiled PrincessCruzGal™ reporting LIVE from the Oosterdam!

Well almost.....

Let me preface this by saying this is a yet another GalzCruz™. This time there are four of us, only we have broken TheRule™ and allowed RAH (rent a husband, [one of the Galz' hub] since he acts as our collective escort) along for the week.

Day –1 (Holiday Inn On The Bay)

Nov 14, 2006 - Day after Thanksgiving.

Planned on leaving Burbank at 9:30am but got a late start since still recovering from amazing Thanksgiving dinner at French 75. (First time in years I haven’t cooked for what seems like a cast of thousands.)

Leave the house at 11am, and arrive in Newport Beach at my Gal Pal, Maryann’s at 12:30pm. The only bad traffic being at the 605 since somehow this is a strange post-Thanksgiving-Day-Sale-Mall-Vortex.

Go to lunch at Muldoons at Fashion Island, then hit the road for San Diego. Maryann and I are leaving our male counterparts in charge of the furry kids at home, and we are meeting our Partners-en-Femme in San Diego. Even though I have six bottles of champagne safely stowed in my luggage, we are in charge of hunting and gathering a case of chardonnay on the way to the ship. I’ve already secured a case of Louis Latour Grand Ardeche Chardonnay at the closest Trader Joes to the ship-we just need to stop and pick it up. (It would occur to us later that perhaps the wisest choice would be to have picked up said case from one of our many local Trader Joes, but this was a lesson we apparently needed to learn the hard way.)

First there was the nightmare traffic from San Clemente through Oceanside that was the result of someone who wasn’t qualified, yet still insisted on driving an RV but ended up twisting three cars around it and parking across two lanes on the southbound I-5…. Then there was the online directions to the Hillcrest Trader Joes that made little sense and the ones from the employee we called that turned out to also be fictional since there is no University exit on the northbound 163.

Yet all was not lost. We managed to gather the vino, and make it to the hotel in time for our other GalPal Kelly to order us Kir Royales down at the Elephant & Castle pub in the lobby where we met the fabulous Val and Keith from our roll call who have turned out to be even cooler than they were on the boards!

E&P is a decent pub, with very good pub food, a good fish n chips, a lovely stuffed Yorkshire pudding along with a decent beer list. Being on the no flour and (very selective sugar) diet, I had the Spinach & Artichoke dip with a side of salsa which suited me quite nicely.

The Holiday Inn On The Bay is lovely. It is quite literally across the street from the quay, and we have a great room WITH FREE WIFI that over looks the bay so we’ll have a great view of the Oosterdam when she docks in the morning.

So far, all I've forgotten to pack is my toothbrush (idiot) and my hats.

:D

Tomorrow: SAILAWAY!

Keep it coming!

We board next Saturday...so I'll be keeping an eye on your post.

Oddly, I think we sailed on Diamond right before or after you a year or so ago...that or I am having Dejavu!

best writing in some time. I will view each day for your commentary....Happy sailing Alsas

Have a great trip, we look forward to reading your posts, give our regards to Mr. Deering.

She just pulled into port, and we’ve got a great view from our 9th floor hotel room. There are a few early morning clouds, but it looks like it’s going to be a gorgeous day.

Maryann is off to the gym, my tennis shoes are in the car and SlutShoes™ don't work well on the life cycles so I'm here on the wifi. Must make sure walk extra stairs today, and maybe hit the gym on the ship pre-dinner.

I could use more sleep....... but aaaaaah - the excitement!

Have a great time on Oosterdam and say hi to James Deering when you have a chance! Don't mess with the remaining A-pod ;) and have one awesome cruise to Mexico! Wow, six bottles of champagne and a case of Chardonnay! Party time!:D - Enjoying your review!

I will be on the ship coming up in January and looking forward to hearing about your exploits about one of my favorite HAL ships. I am sorry you had trouble getting your case of wine. But I am sure you will have no problem drinking it.

Enjoy!!!

Bardgal, thanks for posting. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful cruise. Look forward to hearing from you and all about the ship. Will be watching the web cam and will wave to you as you sail away!

Diane

Bravo! Bravo! More! More!

You are truly the Bard of this Board. Since we live in Huntington Beach, I would have gladly filled your wine order at TJ's and had it waiting for you at Muldoons.

Thanks for keeping me informed. Jan. 6 is coming up fast.

Kerry

Bardgal,

So glad you are writing about this trip. I loved your journal of your trip on the Tahitian Princess a couple of years ago. Keep it coming.

Jennie

Was on the Big O last year for NY Eve and will be on for Valentine's Day in 07...sounds like you have the "gift" of writing...looking forward to your "tales from the Mexican Riveria"! LuAnn

Have a fantastic cruise eventhough I am "green with envy". I will look forward everyday to your updates about your cruise... makes me feel a "wee bit" like being there.

Bon Voyage!!!!

Hope your trip is the best ever! Bon Voyage!

How did you carry this on?? Just curious, as I am looking for advice in doing the same thing next week! I too will be hitting the Trader Joes before the ship.

Hi, We have not yet gotten off the Zaandam but will be looking forward to following your report :) Hope you are having a great first night.

Say Hi to Mr. Deering for us as well.

I confess that I am posting on this thread solely to bump it up to the top in the hope that Bardgal can find it more easily when she is trying to post live from the ship. Yes, I realize that "bumping" threads when the poster has nothing cruiseful to convey is considered a cardinal, or ordinal, sin according to the CC rules. Well, mea culpa (my boo-boo.)

Karin, waiting for the next installment;)

I am so sorry I haven't posted more...

Having a FAB time! The grapefruit cozmo is THE BOMB! AH MAH GAWD!

Mr Deering is AWESOME!

I have began a long report on today and yesterday but the relaxing factor is taking over. I promise to fill all in SOON - hopefully later this eveing. Just popped on to check email, so I thought I'd sign on say HEY very quickly.

LOTS of details to follow......

:D

I am so sorry I haven't posted more...

 

Having a FAB time! The grapefruit cozmo is THE BOMB! AH MAH GAWD!

 

Mr Deering is AWESOME!

 

I have began a long report on today and yesterday but the relaxing factor is taking over. I promise to fill all in SOON - hopefully later this eveing. Just popped on to check email, so I thought I'd sign on say HEY very quickly.

 

LOTS of details to follow......

 

:D

Looking forward to the details. Thanks for taking time on your cruise to keep us wannabees posted.:)

Ah, yes....the relaxation factor.... sea movement, good food, great service and a few grapefruit cosmos...we all understand. One of the best things about a cruise--relaxing! Have a great cruise!

I promise to fill all in SOON - hopefully later this eveing. Just popped on to check email, so I thought I'd sign on say HEY very quickly.

 

LOTS of details to follow......

 

:D

Ahuh, yep, ya sure, how long can you hold your breath? Party on, Tally and don't spend too much time in that Olive Pit:D

White screen; so solly

Sorry this is so long in coming, and I'll be taking awhile to catch up with myself - if I can... so bear with me.

More Saturday...... (Nov 25)

We had a leisurely breakfast at the E&C pub then at 11:45am caught the free Holiday Inn shuttle with our cadre of bags and case of Latour across to the quay. While über-organized, the shore staff in San Diego are a bit barky. My only complaint was there needs to be more stevedores taking baggage.

We were whisked thru the first line then sent to tables to fill out the health questionnaire, then on to the line for suite passengers. This went very quickly, and within 15 minutes of arrival, we were on the ship.

We headed straight to the Neptune to drop our stuff. We walked in and found it absolutely full of people. Every seat was filled. We decided to have a walk around since we were not hungry after our nice breakfast. We stopped at the Lido bar to ask if the Crow’s Nest bar was open for business. They called and said it was, however, when we got there it was empty. The bar was not setup, and there was no bartender or cocktail server in site. We decided to just have a seat in the Oak Room and relax for a few minutes. It’s a lovely room, and the doors were open to the deck so it was more like a covered patio with a fireplace.

The announcement was made that the cabins were ready, but we decided to stay where we were and avoid the rush. Val and Keith found us and they joined us for a bit. Eventually we all decided to head down to find our cabins.

On the way we stopped again at the Neptune Lounge to request nibbles for sailaway. The regular girls were busy, but they had an assistant stationed in the Neptune to, I thought, assist. I approached and ask him how we go about arranging nibbles for our cabin for sailaway. This question somewhat confused him, (which was surprising because he was American) and asked me what the word “nibble” meant, to which Kelly said “snacks”. He looked at us as though we were speaking Swahili. I then said “hor d’ourves”. He told us if we needed any food to call room service at extension 302. I told him I was under the impression that one of the suite perks was daily canapé’s in the afternoon, and we wanted them for sailaway. He then repeated exactly what he had said before as if A), we had somehow accidentally stumbled into the Neptune (even though we had used our key card to get into it in the first place, and B) we hadn’t said anything remotely important so there was no reason to acknowledge what we had said. I’m surprised he didn’t just repeat it louder and slower so we would understand. We left just a bit on the confused side to say the least.

Our cabins are fabulous! The aft wrap SC suites are lovely. More closet space than most people need in a lifetime. New flat screen HDTV. While the PH suites on the Grand Class Princess ships are the best designed of any cabin I’ve yet sailed in (with the sitting room separated from the bedroom and the separate room for the toilet from the Jacuzzi tub and giant separate marble shower, the wet bar, comp first round minibar, and large balcony with the full size teak furniture, these are a close second. Thankfully there is a wonderful separate shower (which although could be larger, is nonetheless WONDERFUL for a cruise ship shower. I never wanted to get out this morning!) There is a lovely dressing area with an efficient hair dryer and fabulous magnifying lighted makeup mirror. The balcony, oops, I mean verandah, is not as exposed as I had initially thought. We have our furniture pulled back close to the cabin, and nothing can be seen from the Lido deck, so privacy is possible, plus you have the completely private side which wraps around. Lovely to sit and relax in the morning (we’re on the starboard side, so we are getting sun in the afternoon at the moment) and look for dolphin. None spotted thus far.

Our luggage had already started arriving so we unpacked. Our cabin steward Handy came and introduced himself, and asked if we were missing any bags. I told him the only thing we would require of him was, when he had time, to keep our small folding cooler filled with ice. I made it clear it did not need to be anytime soon since we had arrived to find a nice bottle of chilled champagne already on ice, but I turned around not two minutes later and he walked back in with it filled! ZOOM! I promised him we would not be high maintenance (well too much anyway.)

After unpacking we popped a cork and went to our other corner cabin where Kelhair and hubby R.A.H. were still unpacking. We were still trying to figure out how to get our sailaway snacks so I picked up the phone and pressed the button next to Neptune Lounge, but the printout message on the phone said “Not Possible”. I finally looked up the number in the book and dialed 92, (why did he tell us 302?), but that was busy. After several attempts I pressed the button next to Room Service and one of the girls in the Neptune answered. I said, ‘You’re exactly who I wanted to speak to!” I asked them how we went about getting some hor d’ourves for sailaway and she said that she’d be happy to arrange it for us, and how many people would we have, I said five, she asked what time, and I told her 5pm would be perfect.

Muster was short and sweet even though it seemed they called out quite a few cabin numbers that they had no checked off as they arrived. Back in the cabin our snacks arrived right on time, and what a spread! I had not specified anything in particular other than five people. We received both hot and cold trays. The hot: chicken shu mai, stuffed jalapeños and egg rolls with a wonderful ginger chili dipping sauce. The Cold: smoked salmon on wheat rounds, shrimp on white rounds, French ham and cornichons on sourdough, and a nutty cream cheese on toast. It was lovely!

We had a lovely sailway out of San Diego right at sunset when all the lights of the city were turning on.

To be continued…….

AGGHHH....your making me want to be on the ship so bad as I sit here at this moment watching snow swirl around outside my window!! Great review, very thorough and enjoyable.

Do you hear me squealing??? I am so excited about this cruise. Which cabin are you in?? We have an aft balcony wrap around, too. I am living vicariously through you until our trip starts!!!!:D