pirate cruiser

Since we are on this topic-we will be on the Oosterdam in the Med. in sept. The ship info says there is some type of gameroom/arcade-would someone give me some specifics on what this is ? Thanks.

We got tiles in Dec. I think chocolates 3 or 4 nights.

My advice would be not to have too many expectations-the negative comments get most of the attention. Since you already enjoy cruising I think you will really like HAL's atmosphere-there are so many great places to sit and just enjoy being on the ocean. The promenade deck is awesome to just walk around the ship. I think the food choices are plentiful and you should have no problem finding things you like. We love the crow's nest but you have to pick the right times to get a good seat.

I think the 15 minute thing refers to the jets and waterfall in the middle of the hydropool-you have to push the 2 buttons to turn them back on which is around every 15 min.

We were on NS in Dec. and they had them by the board games in the Crow's Nest.

We were on in Dec. with 2800 people-the staff was awesome and had all the BL I wanted.

Four of us ( 2 couples ) are doing this same cruise in Sept. for the first time to the Med. so I will be anxiously awaiting any tips or suggestions-have a great time !

I have noticed the negative reviews and comments generate the most responses. I have posted 2 positive experiences on our Dec. cruise with very little response. We were on Eurodam in 2013 and NS in Dec. and the only real cutback I noticed was the once a day cabin cleaning but that's no big deal to us as we try to make it as easy as we can for the stewards. Speaking of pens I really like the HAL logo ones and I noticed there were very few on NS and they were gray now. I was told the new pens they were getting had no logo and were cheaply made-we met an awesome server in the Lido and told her how much we missed the logo and she said she still had plenty and gave us several ! We love BB Kings and Rolling Stone room but I can understand how the loudness may be too much for some. Bottom line is we just like being on a HAL ship and you can still find areas to get away from it all-just have patience and go with the flow and remember you are on vacation !

Our last two ships have been the Eurodam and NS and have the Oosterdam booked for Sept. We love the BB King bands and like the Rolling Stones room. We are not foodies and are satisfied with all food venues. I think complimentary room service breakfast is awesome. Both of the last cruises have been a spring break and a holiday with lots of kids so it will be interesting to see how the Oosterdam demographics are in the Med. in sept. Even though a lot of people think HAL is a mainstream line it just feels elegant to us. Probably after the cruise in sept. we may try another line to get a real comparison and would consider Celebrity, Princess and even Carnival depending on price and itinerary-our holiday cruise was the first 11 day we have been on and it was so much better than the 7day ones.

This is probably not a big deal to the HAL veterans but I knew I would be reaching 2 star status on our cruise last month. I was really hoping to get my pin because 2 stars look a lot better than 1 LOL ! Anyway I called the Mariner society and had to wait until the cruise was completed to update my status plus they don't get pins to mail anymore so have to wait until the next cruise. A little disappointed but at least my account shows 2 stars.

Just make your dinner reservations as usual and it will be reflected in your HIA credit. Shore excursion costs will be deducted from HIA and show how much you have left to spend-it's pretty easy IMO.

We have been on 3 different DAM ships and the atmosphere just feels good to us. We are booked on the Oosterdam in Sept for our first trip to the MED-after that we may try another line to get a comparison but it will depend on price and itinerary.

My advice is to not pay too much attention to a lot of the comments-we don't want to know everything beforehand and just enjoy getting on the ship and getting comfortable and HAL makes it easy to do.

The bottom line is you like cruising or you don't-if all people do is focus on the negative I say try something else-we just love being on the ship and the atmosphere-you can choose to have fun or not but we think it is still a great option.

On NS in Dec we would do breakfast around 830 and never had to wait more than 10 minutes at the omelet station-I've seen longer lines at Embassy Suites and at lunch we would go around 1130 and one of us would get a window table while the other got their food and I would get a drink and get my food when my GF got hers with no problems. On port days we did room service because of an excursion and didn't want to fight the crowds-we were pleased with the room service breakfast and got right off the ship when we were done. We ended up eating at Lido most dinners and that was around 530-never had a problem finding a table and the stir-fry chefs got to know me so not much of a wait-ate in the MDR once but don't really care about dressing up for dinner-would rather eat in the Lido and see the ship and sea view bar. First time in Pinnacle and was impressed with service and pace of food-would definitely go back. Dive-in is what it is-loved the fries and didn't mind the wait since there is a bar right there. Overall I think the food was very good but again we are not picky-also remember that one day I saw sushi and wanted to try it but I waited too long and it was gone when I went to get it.

I know food is subjective but I have always been amused by the same people lined up at the feeding trough at the same time every day-we have found that by altering the times we eat by just 30 minutes we avoid most lines and have no problem finding a window table plus I love the fresh stir-fry as it's always hot.

The sea view pool was loaded with kids especially in the late afternoon-the sign said anyone under 16 was supposed to be under adult supervision but was clearly not enforced but since I have kids it didn't bother me

We were on her 12/27-1/7 and there were a lot of kids that age-they were in the pools all day and had movies on the pool deck-I was happy with the TV-40 plus inch flat screen and plenty of movies and I bet there will be plenty of other kids on spring break-I think they will be fine.

It's a nice itinerary-let me know if you have any questions-thanks

Hello-we were on our first holiday cruise 12/27-1/7. I will try and make this brief as I don't want to do a full blown review. Several firsts for us on this cruise-it was my 3rd HAL cruise and first time with an aft cabin, first time eating in the Pinnacle, first time with the HIA package and first time cruising during the holidays-here goes, - Absolutely loved the aft cabin-deck 6 and the views are awesome, the wake is so relaxing and we were surprised how quiet it was at night-loved the decorations all over the ship. She was beautiful and clean and actually looked new I thought. - Like the muster drill procedure-very quick and easy-we got that out of the way within the hour after boarding. - it's been discussed here before and there were signs at all the bars about now just paying the difference in the price of drinks if you go over your price limit-we had the SBP and all my drinks are less than 11 anyway-will definitely do the SBP next time. - We had the interactive TV-probably a 46 inch which was very nice. - Ended up eating most meals at Lido-so much variety IMO and loved the stir fry-we ate in the MDR once and we just don't like eating dinner for 1-2 hours-ordered room service breakfast 3 times and it was on-time and good each time. Tried Dive-In for the first time and liked it especially the fries. Still amazes me to hear people complain about the food with so much to choose from-if you can adjust the time to eat breakfast or lunch you can really avoid the crowds. - Pinnacle Grill-very impressed with the service and pace of the orders-we were in and out in less than an hour and a half-the clothesline bacon may have been the best thing I had on this cruise-yes they charge extra for appetizers but not for sides so we had plenty to eat. - Another reason we decided on this cruise was we visited 5 new ports for us-have wanted to visit St. Maarten for a long time and it did not disappoint-the Sunset Grill and Bar was awesome and we were surprised how busy the airport was and would definitely go back here. - Thoughts on the other new ports-St. Lucia was ok but not a must see again. Went to Copa beach in Barbados and it was the clearest water I have seen and would do this again-was told the Boatyard is even better but it was full. Martinique was nice and went to the ruins of Pelee which was cool to see. St. Kitts was our least favorite-nice shops in the port area but very dirty in town and almost felt unsafe-again not a must see for us. - A little surprised at how many kids were on board-a lot of them were unsupervised especially in the Sea View pool-we like the thermal spa pool and never got in the outdoor pools Good luck with finding a poolside lounger anyway-people must hog them overnight. - Went to St. Johns on a catamaran and it was windy and pretty rough but enjoyed anyway-would like to go on a calm day. - Beautiful day at HMC-the beach and water this day was gorgeous but I can't believe the all-aboard is 2:30-not enough time to really enjoy the island. - Overall had a great time-met some new friends and the crew and staff were amazing-even got a chance to talk to Captain Eric for a few minutes. BB Kings and the Rolling Stones Room bands were great. Not sure we will do the holiday thing again as there were just too many kids running around (literally) !

We just got off NS yesterday and had our first aft cabin on deck 6-it was awesome-the views are great, the wake sound is soothing and we were surprised how quiet it was at night-I would absolutely try to get one next time we sail.

Cool thanks-hate to see Christmas cookies go to waste !

Hey all-sorry if this has been answered already but wanted to know if we can bring our own snacks on-board at embarkation-we leave tomorrow on NS and wanted to bring some christmas cookies with us-thanks again !

Agree completely-funny the same people that complain for some reason keep sailing HAL !

AAH-such a relief to see positive attitudes !