Just Off the Oosterdam 11 day, any ????

[retdon]

Still unpacking but will answer questions. Below some notes on the cruise/ship/food, etc.

 

Always great to be on a HAL ship cruising along, sipping a cocktail and feeling the wind in your face. Nothing is better.....

Preface: The ship was full, even so only a few time did we notice lines.

 

Ship: She does need a face lift and I know she will come out looking years younger. The carpet is worn in places as is some of the cabin furniture. She needs paint in places and a good cleaning outside. Drapes will be replaced and some new slots in the casino. There were crews already working on her during this cruise.

 

Food: Love the larger glasses in the Lido, thanks HAL. We only ate once in the main dinning room, too crowded. The ship was full and "My Time" was a waiting line.

 

The food in the Pinnacle, Lido, Dive In was excellent, Canaletto, I did not like the veal picante but the rigatoni was great. We had room service breakfasts, light and easy. Only got eggs benedict once and it was good, generally cereal, croissants, muslic, and that delicious coffee.

I do not like the pre-made sandwiches, yuck, not a good change HAL. Heard many passengers complaining about them and wish you would bring fresh sandwiches back. This will definitely be addressed in my comments to HAL.

The huge, fresh, made to order salads are fantastic and made many of our lunches delicious. Our treat for lunch most days was an ice cream waffle cone, so good.

Cruise: We had been to all the ports and only got off at a few to shop. It was cloudy and rainy in several but that did not bother us. Leaving St. Thomas was fun, gale force winds and 10 ft. seas, rock and roll all night and the next day. We did stop at Half Moon but only after careful consideration and positioning of the ship.

Crew: The best folks on earth work for HAL. Our cabin steward was great even though he could not find a table for our veranda, we made out. Ice was delivered everyday as we requested for cocktails. The casino crew are always fun folks, we really enjoyed playing and doing well at black jack.

Entertainment: Bingo is always bingo, Carson the cruise director is really good at his job.

We saw the Oosterdam singers, Night on Broadway and almost left during the show. They really tried hard but were off key and flat, that did not go well as some passengers left during the show. We never went back to another show.

A quiet, relaxing cruise with just us, no one else, now looking forward to Nieuw Amsterdam in October with my Hialeah High classmates, family and friends. Linda

[aliaschief]

Welcome back. Glad you enjoyed your cruise and thanks for update. She should look great after dry dock.

 

Doing great after aortic valve replacement last month and hopefully we will be on a Dam cruise with both of you again.

 

What's for dinner MaMa?:)

 

B.

[big-time-cruiser]

Welcome home Linda.

 

I am glad you had a good cruise!

 

I will be sailing later in the year with the gals. We are a frugal bunch, and thinking ahead, we are planning to bring our own coffee and mugs onboard, we want to relax on deck 10 in the Explorations Cafe, playing scrabble, sipping our coffee, and gabbing!

 

So....does the Explorations Cafe have free hot water, where we could make our own instant flavored coffees? We don't like paying for all the extras on a cruise, we are more than happy with the already included items.

 

Thanks a bunch.

[RuthC]

Still unpacking but will answer questions.

Thanks for offering to answer questions. I'll take you up on that. :)

I always love reading about the entertainment. Who were the headliners in the evening shows? Who was playing in the Piano Bar?

[KirkNC]

Welcome back, I think it is pretty unanimous that the pre made sandwiches need to go. I think on the Amsterdam they did away with them but that maybe because it's the world cruise.

[Lizzie68]

Welcome back and thanks for the report. I will look forward to the salads for lunch but will really miss my freshly-made sandwich, the way I like it.

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for the report.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[3rdGenCunarder]

This thing with the pre-made sandwiches is odd. In Feb, Oosterdam had pre-made sandwiches on baguettes, but they also had a made-to-order station. And now a month later, they don't. I wonder if they're experimenting to see how many complaints they get when the only option is premade. Or maybe the made-to-order station has shorter hours, and when that's done there are only premades? Or maybe the station is on only one side and OP didn't see it? I know that pizza at lunch is on only one side. I never could find it, but DH went right to it every day!

Edited March 12, 2016 by 3rdGenCunarder

[Keith1010]

Welcome back and thank you for your report.

 

Keith

[rajkr74]

This thing with the pre-made sandwiches is odd. In Feb, Oosterdam had pre-made sandwiches on baguettes, but they also had a made-to-order station. And now a month later, they don't. I wonder if they're experimenting to see how many complaints they get when the only option is premade. Or maybe the made-to-order station has shorter hours, and when that's done there are only premades? Or maybe the station is on only one side and OP didn't see it? I know that pizza at lunch is on only one side. I never could find it, but DH went right to it every day!

 

 

We were on the Oosterdam from 2-19-16 thru 3-11-16. Our MD table mates were on the cruise since 1-8-16 and they said there was a made to order sandwich station and some premade sandwiches when they got on. But by our cruise there was only premade sandwiches. I looked all over the Lido and did not find a made to order sandwich station. The premade sandwiches that were available had items in the sandwiches that we did not like or could not eat. I was able to find ONE sandwich one day that I could eat but had to remove an item from it. We will make note of this with our survey also.

 

I am going to follow up with a short review of our 21 day cruise with some pics and interesting things we noticed..

Edited March 12, 2016 by rajkr74

[retdon]

Welcome back. Glad you enjoyed your cruise and thanks for update. She should look great after dry dock.

 

Doing great after aortic valve replacement last month and hopefully we will be on a Dam cruise with both of you again.

 

What's for dinner MaMa?:)

 

B.

 

Glad to hear you are recovering and doing good. Sure would like to sail with you again. Our next is 7 day in Oct. with my high school friends and then will plan 2017. What is on your schedule?

[boze9999]

Do you remember who the Piano Man was?

[aliaschief]

Glad to hear you are recovering and doing good. Sure would like to sail with you again. Our next is 7 day in Oct. with my high school friends and then will plan 2017. What is on your schedule?

 

 

Oct 28, 16, 22 day Eurodam Med and Passage To America, Jan 6, 16 Nieuw Amsterdam, 11 days and 34 days Prisendam July 15, 17.

 

Have a great day.

[kevingastreich]

"We were on the Oosterdam from 2-29-16 thru 3-11-16. Our MD table mates were on the cruise since 1-8-16 and they said there was a made to order sandwich station and some premade sandwiches when they got on."

 

Oosterdam in Oct. 2015 had both pre-made and made to order sandwiches. I never got a pre-made but my travelling partner got one and ended up throwing the entire thing away.

Edited March 12, 2016 by kevingastreich

[retdon]

Ruth,

The entertainment on this one was not the shows on the previous 11 day. Mike Robinson, comedy was a huge hit with all the passengers I talked to. DH saw part of his show and said he was fantastic, I was busy winning in the casino :D.

Synergy, identical twins performed on electric rock violins, ??.

B.B. King's All Stars, ??

Simply Broadway, not very good.

Stage and Screen, film and theater show with Bob Mackie costumes, we did not attend and I was wearing Bob Mackie....

Juan Pablo, Latin American pianist, ??

Kevin Jordan, has been on Comedy Central, heard he was excellent.

James was the piano man and I did not hear a peep about him.

The Ocean Bar was packed every day and their hot hors d'oeuvres were delicious.

 

Hot water, I was never in the Explorers Lounge. DH said they had the usual small sandwiches, coffee, etc., I would expect you can get hot water there, I definitely know you can in the Lido.

Linda

 

Chief, we will miss you again, I just can't fly.....

[RuthC]

Ruth,

Mike Robinson, comedy

Synergy, identical twins performed on electric rock violins, ??.

 

Juan Pablo, Latin American pianist, ??

Kevin Jordan, has been on Comedy Central,

 

James was the piano man.

Thank you.

[retdon]

Ruth,

The entertainment on this one was not the shows on the previous 11 day. Mike Robinson, comedy was a huge hit with all the passengers I talked to. DH saw part of his show and said he was fantastic, I was busy winning in the casino :D.

Synergy, identical twins performed on electric rock violins, ??.

B.B. King's All Stars, ??

Simply Broadway, not very good.

Stage and Screen, film and theater show with Bob Mackie costumes, we did not attend and I was wearing Bob Mackie....

Juan Pablo, Latin American pianist, ??

Kevin Jordan, has been on Comedy Central, heard he was excellent.

James was the piano man and I did not hear a peep about him.

The Ocean Bar was packed every day and their hot hors d'oeuvres were delicious.

 

Hot water, I was never in the Explorers Lounge. DH said they had the usual small sandwiches, coffee, etc., I would expect you can get hot water there, I definitely know you can in the Lido.

Linda

 

Chief, we will miss you again, I just can't fly.....

[janmcn]

We just got off the same cruise, though we did 21 days (B to B)...

Yes, we noticed things that needed attention, but also knew the BIG dry dock was coming up. The maintenance crew was busy outside...painted our balcony in places as well as washed and waxed the balcony floor (looked lovely).

 

Pre-made sandwiches weren't as bad as some folks indicated (IMO)...some on baguettes, some on lovely breads. Only about 6 choices each day though...my favorite egg salad appeared as well as tuna salad. Nice turkey with dressing and cranberry sauce on bread one day...loved that one. You definitely had to look each day...and they are really fresh...don't confuse them with pre-mades in a 7-11 or some such.

 

The Italian station was one of my favorites...pizza was always my "fall back" for dinner or lunch.

 

Larger glasses for water/ice tea are welcome, but they use the same large ones for juice in the morning...would like a bit smaller then.

 

Coffee in the Lido has definitely improved.

 

Smoking still allowed on balconies, so that was my biggest complaint this cruise.

 

Great staff in the Lido (as usual). BUT...eggs for scrambled eggs and omelettes are a different pre-scrambled brand than they've used before and not very good (IMO) but you can ask for "real eggs" to be used.

 

The sailing excursion on the former America's Cup boats in St. Maarten was a huge hit for my husband...best excursion ever, he said. Looked like great fun.

 

St. Thomas was a rain-out...too bad for many.

 

Ship seemed to have a pretty healthy bunch on board...didn't hear a lot of coughing, etc. by the end which can often happen. We came home healthy.

 

Would sail the O again if they stop smoking on the balconies...until they do, they are a waste of money...always seem to have a smoker next to us.

 

Very good CD, Shane.

Band was very good, Adagio very good, didn't hear James in the Piano Bar, BB King sounded good whenever we went by, more movies now being shown also in the big theater which was nice...("Screening Room" has room for only 30 people, so folks tend to stake out a chair 30-45 minutes before.)

 

In all, a relaxing, good cruise.

[NIATPAC29]

@ average age of fellow cruisers ?

[regnig]

We were also on this cruise and I agree with all Linda said. My additional comments are about some of the food in the Lido.

 

The Pre-Made sandwiches just have to GO! I don't need all that bread at lunch so I used to order my sandwiches "without bread". I did pick up one sandwich the day they had egg salad and then removed all the innards. I must have ended up with about 2 tablespoons of egg salad, one limp piece of lettuce and a rather unripe piece of tomato. What a waste! For those of us who do not want to eat a heavy lunch that pretty much left only salad and fruit for lunch. Must say though that the new salad bar and the huge green bowls are great.

 

The other two cut backs I noticed were at dinner in the Lido. In the past there were "several" selections of appetizers and on this cruise there were only 2 each night, a fruit cup and a cold soup. Gone were any kind of shrimp cocktails, prosciutto & melon, etc. Additionally the main entrées were very heavy on pork and chicken. Beef offerings seemed to be very limited. Now, all that said we always found something to eat but it was a bit disappointing.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Question for Larsen (sorry, quote function isn't working for me today):

 

Was the Lido very busy for dinner? I've never had dinner in a HAL Lido, so I'm wondering if they've cut back on food choices because of a smaller crowd?

[janmcn]

We almost always eat in the Lido for dinner and no, I didn't see any difference on this cruise from previous ones. The atmosphere in the Lido is much more relaxed, fewer people (which is good) and better service than in the MDR (IMO). You see your food as it is prepared...can see the cut of meat you are getting immediately, make suggestions (cook it a bit more, etc.) and the extras (applesauce, mint jelly, etc.) are all available for you to take as much as you want/need. (In the MDR we waited so long to get extra sauce that the meal was pretty much done with by the time they returned with it.)

Much of the menu for the MDR and Lido is the same. A few differences, so if it matters to you, check out the published menus each afternoon.

[regnig]

Question for Larsen (sorry, quote function isn't working for me today):

Was the Lido very busy for dinner? I've never had dinner in a HAL Lido, so I'm wondering if they've cut back on food choices because of a smaller crowd?

 

It was our opinion that there perhaps seemed to be a few less people in the Lido at dinner than there has been in the past. But it is possible that was due to our timing as we normally went between 645p & 700p which might have been a tad late for some. The one night we went earlier so that we could make the 1st show it did seem busier. I'm still of the opinion that what we noticed was just due to cut backs that I'm sure HAL (and other lines) are making to keep the price of cruising down so I guess I really shouldn't complain too loudly. I did note my comments on the surveys as I really want the made to order sandwiches back. :o

 

We always eat in the Lido as dinner in the dining room can take far to long for our taste. When we sail Princess we also dine in the Caribe every night. Along with being very laid back cruisers and while being waited on in the dining room is wonderful we enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of the "buffet" and find we eat far less than when ordering off the menu.

[3rdGenCunarder]

It was our opinion that there perhaps seemed to be a few less people in the Lido at dinner than there has been in the past. But it is possible that was due to our timing as we normally went between 645p & 700p which might have been a tad late for some. The one night we went earlier so that we could make the 1st show it did seem busier. I'm still of the opinion that what we noticed was just due to cut backs that I'm sure HAL (and other lines) are making to keep the price of cruising down so I guess I really shouldn't complain too loudly. I did note my comments on the surveys as I really want the made to order sandwiches back. :o

 

We always eat in the Lido as dinner in the dining room can take far to long for our taste. When we sail Princess we also dine in the Caribe every night. Along with being very laid back cruisers and while being waited on in the dining room is wonderful we enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of the "buffet" and find we eat far less than when ordering off the menu.

 

Thanks for the answer. I saw surprised by your observation about fewer choices, because for a long time people have said there was very little difference between the menus in MDR and Lido. You're probably right, more cutbacks.

[RocketMan275]

Pre-made sandwiches weren't as bad as some folks indicated (IMO)...some on baguettes, some on lovely breads. Only about 6 choices each day though...my favorite egg salad appeared as well as tuna salad. Nice turkey with dressing and cranberry sauce on bread one day...loved that one. You definitely had to look each day...and they are really fresh...don't confuse them with pre-mades in a 7-11 or some such.

 

The Italian station was one of my favorites...pizza was always my "fall back" for dinner or lunch.

 

Coffee in the Lido has definitely improved.

 

Smoking still allowed on balconies, so that was my biggest complaint this cruise.

 

Ship seemed to have a pretty healthy bunch on board...didn't hear a lot of coughing, etc. by the end which can often happen. We came home healthy.

 

Would sail the O again if they stop smoking on the balconies...until they do, they are a waste of money...always seem to have a smoker next to us.

 

In all, a relaxing, good cruise.

 

Just off of Westerdam yesterday with a few comments.

 

The sandwiches were just fine. Quickly became my lunch of choice.

I was impressed with the pizza. I had heard so many comments about poor pizza on cruise ships. This was fine.

Didn't hear of any instances of illness on our ship except for my self. Got a touch of sea sickness about mid cruise.

Smoking? I only saw one instance of smoking on the balcony.