My Tiny Review of the Oosterdam 08/04-08/11/19

[beaming90]

My review of the Holland America MS Oosterdam

08/04/19-08/11/19

 

We flew out of Kansas City International on Sunday morning, the 4^th of August on an Alaskan Air flight leaving at 6 AM.  The flight was very crowded and apparently sold out so I was glad we got there at 4 AM.  As we were descending into Seattle we saw our ship, so that was very exciting!  There were four of us cruising together, I am 54, my roommate on the cruise Elsie who is in her mid 80’s, and our friends Jim and Anne who were celebrating their 75^th birthdays on the cruise.  We were on the Oosterdam in Signature Staterooms 8091 and 8093.  We flew in to Seattle and got some scrumptious Macarons there at the airport (Lady Yum!!  YUMMY!!!!) We found the HAL people by the luggage area just as we were told and checked in our luggage at the little desk so we no longer had to carry that around and had lunch at Starbucks.  Then we went to the area where they told us to wait for the bus.  This was a long walk and not for anyone with bad legs.  Got there and found seats over in the NCL area I think it was.  Waited forever it seemed but they finally had us come over to a specific area and stand there a while then we were on the bus and on our way to the ship.  Once we got to the terminal, it seemed as though it took forever but we were in groups F and G to board, F boarded and they called G at 11:30 AM and told us then that our rooms were ready so we went right to our rooms and set our stuff down, then ate at the Lido deck looking out on a gorgeous marina and boats sailing in the Puget Sound (I think).  While in the terminal we heard that the Blue Angels would be flying at 3:30 so as we were mustering we were welcomed by an Angel fly by.  They got closer as it got closer to time for us to sail.  We watched from the back of the ship and suddenly the ropes were dropped and we were off on our way to Alaska!

We had anytime seating for dinner and we went to the dining room a little late that night, I am the world’s pickiest eater and nothing on the menu sounded good so I ordered steak and fries.  My fries tasted a little funny, kind of sweet even…I asked one of the ladies to try them and she said they were sweet so we called the Maître D (Sekan - now known as my sugar daddy) over and he tasted one and scrunched up his nose and busted out laughing.  Turns out there was someone new in the kitchen that got the sugar and salt confused and I was forever known as the sugar fry lady!  All the waiters heard about it and it caused a lot of laughter through the whole trip. 

Monday was a sea day and if I remember it right it was really foggy at first and the ship horn blew every couple minutes but that didn’t bother any of us.  We slept in and had breakfast delivered to the room and just explored the ship all day.  We got to tour a little of the kitchen that day, that was fun and got a couple of samples of appetizers.  We lost a little money in the casino and just had a great day.  That evening was the gala dinner and it was yummy!  Then we went to bed a little early once again to be ready for Juneau the next day!

Tuesday we woke up nice and early – 5:30 AM or so and got coffee and tea from the Lido deck then watched the sunrise from our balcony.  It was beautiful! 

We had breakfast that morning in the dining room and met a really great couple from Walla Walla Washington, but the food was just ok.  I loved Juneau!  We went gold panning, so fun!  Did a little shopping and then did the evening whale watching with Gastineau Guiding and it was wonderful!  I didn’t get any good pictures of whales but we saw two, and were able to identify them.  I am not sure what the one’s name was but the second one we saw was Sasha!  But I did get ok pics of Sea lions, eagles, a jelly fish and we saw seals too.  It was an incredible excursion and I recommend anyone take it!  It was so much fun.  There were only 20 of us on the boat and Dan Michrowski was our guide and he was very knowledgeable.

The next day we were in Sitka and it was my favorite of all the stops we made!  We didn’t have anything planned so we rode into town and looked around a little, went back to the port and did a little shopping and enjoyed sitting on our balcony watching the world go by.  Then we got to do the behind the scenes tour of the Bridge, that was great fun.  There were only four of us on the tour and the assistant cruise director made it so much fun.  The next day there were 6 of us on the other part where we saw the engine room, the laundry, kitchen, and storage areas.  It was well worth the $150 I think it was that it cost! 

Ketchikan we had no plans either so we got a tour of the city we bought on the pier and we made several stops looking at the Salmon and looking for bears but never saw any.  Did a little more shopping and enjoyed the view of Ketchikan from our balcony once again.  Later that evening we played in the casino and I won $614!

Victoria we just went into town and back again and the funnest part for me was singing O Canada on my balcony while in Canada. (I have sung it a few times for a local baseball team when they play a Canadian team.) I attended the past guest party and enjoyed it at lunch.  And we sadly packed.

We also saw a glacier on one day, apparently that did not make that much of an impression on me as I don’t even remember what day we did it.

The ship was fabulous, our room stewards went above and beyond every day!  The food was ok.  I am just too picky.  Our rooms had adjoining doors and our balconies were open before we even got there so that was nice!  Our beds were supposed to be two twins and they were not but that only took about 10 minutes after we talked to our steward to be fixed.  I had purchased the Thalassotherapy pool pass and only used it twice.  There was just too much other stuff going on.  It was a great trip and I would HIGHLY recommend the Oosterdam!

[ger_77]

Great review - glad you had a good time!

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

[freestyling]

Thanks for the review. Sounds like you had a great cruise

[DeeniEncinitas]

beaming90! NOW YOU SHOULD BE CALLED SUGAR FRY LADY🤗!!!

Great review of one of our favorite ships!!!

we have done 3 cruises on her and loved our SS suite!! What a treat having THE BLUE ANGELS flying over head at muster drill! You know food is so subjective and I hope you found some good dishes!!

Im like you when in doubt STEAK AND FRIES👍LOL without sugar🥴

Thank you again for a fine review 

Denise😊

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review.

 

Glad you enjoyed your Alaskan cruise.  Have been there many times.

 

Sugar on the French Fries -- sounds wonderful to me!!

[fatcat04]

Sugar Fry!! Makes a cute nickname 😁

Thanks for the short but sweet review. Enjoyed it. 

 

[*Miss G*]

Thanks for the review and pictures!  Glad you had a great time.  That’s so awesome you got to see the Blue Angels!!

[operakatz]

Sugar Fry Lady is a great nickname! Thanks for the review - we sail on Oosterdam this coming Sunday.

[cat shepard]

Thank you, SFL!

 

I am glad you enjoyed yourself and the ship. I will be sailing on her this October.

[erewhon]

Thank you for reviewing your Oosterdam cruise and sharing your photos.

[sevenseasnomad]

Sugar on French fries!  Whoa!  Could be a new craze.  Or NOT. 

 

Thanks for taking time to write the review.  So glad you enjoyed Alaska.  Of course, what's not to like about that jaw-dropping scenery.  During our 2nd cruise to Alaska, we woke to fog almost every morning, and the ship's horn would sound for hours.  On fog-free days, we actually missed the sound!

[canadianbear]

Glad you had a memorable trip (fries and all!).  We will be on the Oosterdam in a few months-really like the ship.

 

Nice bonus with the casino win.  Enjoyed your photos too.  Thanks for reporting in!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the review.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review!

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for your review Sugar Fry.

Nice pictures too.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[jimbri]

Thanks for your review!