Back from Oosterdam 5/7 Alaska Cruise-LONG!

[stormyc]

:D

 

 

Bill S, thanks again for the great review...

 

When is your next cruise??

[luvcruisn']

RE: configuration of the ship. I was on the Zuiderdam last year, which has a similar configuration to the Oosterdam, but I still managed to lose my way. One night I wanted to go to the Crows Nest, but kept finding myself in the spa area on 9, the Crows Nest is on 10. However, thinking I was at the wrong end of the ship, I went all the way back to where I had started from, the aft end of the ship. I then went forward again, and still couldn't find it, I finally gave up. I did find it on the second last night of the cruise finally.

[stormyc]

RE: configuration of the ship...

 

:) I know - it can be very confusing...

 

The first couple of days I would step off the elevator and do this little spin - realized other folks were also doing the spin - realized it looked ridiculous - stopped doing it! LOL! :D

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Welcome Back Bill, I am just now getting on the board to read myself. We did not get home till very late Sunday night or I should say early Monday morning but I did make it to work Monday morning and the stacks of files were waiting for me. I am glad you enjoyed your cruise. I think you need to do a Vista Class again. When we did the Oosterdam she was our second having done the Zuirderdam first. We actually thought there was less vibration on the Oosterdam and felt vibration on the Ryndam. We also thought the food was quite good on the Oosterdam.

 

Who was your Captain?

 

Welcome Back, we will have to get together the end of the month when Joe from WPB comes to town.

[Bill S]

stormy: our next cruise is the Baltic on the Prinsendam, sailing July 26!! Localady and PeteJackson will also be on board!

 

Lisa: Welcome home to the heat! Hope you and Tom and a wonderful visit to paradise! The Oosterdam captain was Jonathan Mercer-very impressed with him. We also thought that cuisine was above par! Keep us posted about our next "event" here in town.

 

I forgot to mention in my review that the Mariner reception was one of the least crowded I have seen in a long time. We did run into a lot of HAL first-timers on this cruise. There was only one person who received a new medallion, a copper one, but there were about 12 copper medallion holders recognized and a handful of silver and gold medallion holders. One person had 992 days on HAL!

[stormyc]

stormy: our next cruise is the Baltic on the Prinsendam, sailing July 26!! Localady and PeteJackson will also be on board! ...

 

WOW!! You sure know how to cure post cruise depression, don't you? :)

 

I am so happy for you - but a leeetle green with jealousy as well!

 

Best Regards,

[jhannah]

Since we docked in Vancouver Saturday morning, our ships probably crossed in the night! Welcome back. Reality bites, doesn't it? ;)

 

Just 13 more weeks until we leave for our 14-day Prinsendam cruise. You'll be on board sooner. Make sure they have her ship-shape for us! You'll really love the fact that you can get from dining room to show lounge in just about a minute and a half.

[rickcohen2]

........James Deering has left the Oosterdam, so I was not able to meet him.

Anybody know where he's off to this time?

[ekerr19]

Bill - Welcome Home! Glad to hear you had a good time. We share some of the same thoughts and feelings about the Vista class.

 

We use the stairs quite a bit too, had a hard time with them on the Zuiderdam. We frequently found ourselves "lost and confused" lol!

 

Glad to hear the dogs are doing well and weren't traumatized too much. :)

 

We will be doing the RT from Seattle on the Amsterdam in August - looking forward to it, it sounds fabulous.

 

Thanks again!

[artofwar]

Was dutch night the first informal night?

 

 

 

cruzermom: your hubby is correct--we had 2 formal, 1 informal and 4 casual nights. Informal night was Tuesday-it was also Dutch Night. Ask away-I'll be glad to help out (except for packing)! :cool:

[Bill S]

artofwar: yep, Dutch night was on informal night - the first and only informal night.

 

laura: the Vista was confusing at times, and I do pay attention to the deck diagrams! My poor DW, who has a hard time finding her way on the S-class ships really had a hard time with the Oosterdam. She understood that entertainment was forward and food was aft, but most of the time she couldn't even tell which way was which!!! :eek: You will enjoy the Amsterdam-still our favorite ship!

 

One good thing though: she noticed that there were a lot more restrooms in the public areas on the Vista class ship than in the others. :D

 

The dogs are certainly happy to be home-they both slept most of Sunday after we picked them up. They had a bath and claws clipped before we retrieved them, so they are looking sharp!

 

Jim: glad you had a good time and our ships probably did cross paths! We saw the Volendam going north on Thursday or Friday on our way to Victoria from Ketchikan. I have already downloaded my pictures onto a cd in anticipation of our next get-together! (Are you reading this, Lisa?)

[Tinknock50]

Thanks for your review. On my only Oosterdam cruise I found the dining room cramped and noisy, to the extent it was hard to make conversation.

 

 

Hey, maybe you could help me? I heard about the cramped feeling of the dining room before, so my question is : Did you see a table that could be used for a party of 3 on the lower level near that central opening between the 2 decks? Do you think it would seem more open there?

 

Thanks!

[ekerr19]

laura: the Vista was confusing at times, and I do pay attention to the deck diagrams! My poor DW, who has a hard time finding her way on the S-class ships really had a hard time with the Oosterdam. She understood that entertainment was forward and food was aft, but most of the time she couldn't even tell which way was which!!! :eek: You will enjoy the Amsterdam-still our favorite ship!

 

Your DW sounds like me - often DH will "steer" me in the correct direction, lol!

 

We love the Amsterdam - our kids first cruise was it's inaugural Christmas cruise through the Panama Canal - we had a blast and we are looking forward to being back onboard. :)

[wandb]

I hope I'm not asking a dumb question, but we are leaving on our first ever cruise in about 10 days and I've never heard of "Dutch Night" before. Could someone fill me in, please? Thanks!!

[Bill S]

wandb: Your's is not a dumb question! Dutch night is where the dinner menus offer Dutch and Indonesian items-I enjoy the selections. They also give the men black "Dutch-boy" caps and the ladies white "Dutch-girl" caps. Hope this helps! Ask away!!

[sue117]

My DH and I were pretty good, I never knew which was front and which was back (ALWAYS went the wrong way) and my husband never knew what floor we were going to. Even on the last day, he was asking what floor the dining room was on! But luckily, I knew which floor we were going to, and he knew which was front and back...so together we were good, apart we were lost! :)
Sue117