Oosterdam 4/22-4/29 review, finally!

[Buckett]

I heard back from the website admin people, and they looked but were unable to find my original post...so, my friends, I am taking your advice and composing my review in a different format so I can cut/paste without fear of a "time out". I hope I remember everything I put down in my other review that got lost, I was so disappointed. :-( I would like to apologize right now for the disjointedness of this review, but I find myself typing what I am able to remember from my first try as I think of it. Here goes....

 

My re-entry to the work force was somewhat delayed, as I called in sick Monday the 1st. What happened was I found myself in bed at 9am waiting for room service to bring my breakfast before I realized it wasn't coming and had to snap back into the reality that consists of me getting my OWN breakfast. lol

 

A few quick observations: 1. Before we had even left San diego, DH and I were sitting out on our balcony (VA7095) looking at the Midway and he said "I think we're going to become cruisers". I agreed. 2. By the end of Day 1 he was calling me "Julie the cruise director" because I had all the answers to his questions, plus volunteered bits of information i had gleaned from these boards, (thank you cc'ers) which was especially impressive to him as I had never been on the ship before. 3. Prior to this cruise we had said "well, we'll try a few different cruise lines and then decide which we like best". this was amended on Day 2 to "I see no reason to try any other cruise line". he agreed.

 

Embarkation was very smooth, I have to say that filling out the immigration form online is the way to go, this probably saved us 20 minutes. We live in San Diego, so got dropped off at the terminal around 11:15. We were waiting to board by I'd say 11:35. We noticed at that time that the line was out the door, whereas when we arrived there were only about 5 people in front of us. Apparently one should get there either early, or later, like around 2...from talking to other pax who arrived around that time we found out they had no wait either. Once onboard we headed to the Lido for a nice meal, then over to the Spa, since thanks to cc'ers reviews i already knew i wanted that weeklong pass to the thermal suite! lol We went 4 times, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

Our room steward was Risbowo, and he was awesome! Just as an example, after a couple of cocktails in our cabin I realized we were out of ice, and so i called the front desk to inquire about a nearby ice machine. they told me my cabin steward would take care of it, i said i wasn't sure how to contact him, and they told me they would do it. this is no joke, ONE minute later, i heard a taptap on the door, and it was Risbowo with the ice! I was very impressed, and that is just of many examples I could give.

 

The best in port meal, or for that matter, the best meal we've had bar none in months, was in Cabo San Lucas at a restaraunt called "Los Deseos". We were just walking along the marina on our way back from the beach and stopped because we liked it the way it looked plus we were pretty hungry, and we were not disappointed. We had a mushroom appetizer that was delicious, i had the chicken enchiladas, rice and beans; DH had the chile rellenos. although we have both had the same meal a thousand times, there was something about the spices and the sauce they used that took this to a whole new level. We will definitely return the next time we are in Cabo. Highly recommended.

 

Everything you read here on the boards about Mr. Deering is 100% true, he really is amazing, and here is my first-hand example. We met him for the first time at the 3pm wave, and he gave me his card, saying if we needed anything to give him a call. At this point, let me back up a little bit...I had pre-ordered a 6 pack of beer and bottle of vodka to be in the room upon our arrival, and it wasn't, but since I had ordered it just the day before I wasn't too worried about it. I called the front desk to inquire, and they said they would check into it. That was right when we got into our room. So, then we went to the 3pm wave, met and chatted with Jeff and Mary, DanaL and Luke, and Mr. Deering. When we got back to our cabin a little later, the liquor still wasn't there. So I said to myself, well Mr. Deering did say to call him if we needed anything, and I need a cocktail, so I'm going to call. :-) He answered right away and I apologized for bothering him, he said no bother at all, so i quickly explained the situation to him. Lo and behold, 10 minutes our order was delivered! YAY We were very impressed.

 

Our dining room steward was Denny, and he had Eko helping him. I can't say enough how friendly and helpful with menu choiced they were. They also had time to stop and chat with us, and we enjoyed that. Our cocktail waitress in the dining room was Lutche, what a sweetie she is! She remembered our drinks after the first night. This is the type of thing that really makes you feel special.

 

On Sunday afternoon Jeff and Mary hosted a party on the balcony of the legendary 5187. Wow! You can easily fit 30 people on that balcony. It was a beautiful day for a party, and DH and I really felt like VIPs at this one, as we were greeted upon arrival by Suzanne, the food and beverage manager, given a glass of champagne right away, and got to say hello and thanks to Mr. Deering for his help the day before. We met some other posters on this board, Icelandic Barbie, Boonie, Shelwin (who got married in Cabo on Monday)...those are the only ones i can think of right now, if I missed anyone I apologize. Thanks to Jeff and Mary for hosting the party, we sure did have a great time.

 

I would like to mention Mazatlan Frank, he took us, along with DanaL and DH, and Jeff and Mary, on the city and beach tour. I can't say anything about him that hasn't already been said, he is GREAT and I highly recommend booking with him if you want a more personal and informative tour. We definitely will again the next time we are in Mazatlan! Thank you Frank. :-) In PV we did the dolphin swim, this was the experience of a lifetime, we are still talking about it and have watched the DVD 3 times already!

 

This is all I can think of right now...we are already planning our next cruise, we are thinking of Alaska, but will definitely do the Mexican Riviera sooner than that, probably when they start up again later this year! We loved our experience on the Oosterdam, this might sound strange but when we left the ship , we actually felt like we were leaving good friends behind who we can't wait to see again! Anyone else ever feel like that? I will be happy to answer any questions. Also want to say to Jeff, Mary, Dana, and Luke, RD and I really enjoyed meeting you. Hope to see you again on a HAL cruise! :-)

[MikeT718]

Buckett great review..We got off the O'Dam the day you got on and I took Pic's of her leaving and wove them into one of the albums that I have on web shots..And I have to agree that Mr. Deering is the best..The First Formal Night besides haveing our pic's with Captian Mercer we also were able to get one with Mr. Deering:)

[jckvpa0]

Very nice review, thank you!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for taking the time and posting your review here. I remember how you had mentioned about the main review area not receiving it.

 

Very good - and glad you had a great cruise and will soon be sailing on HAL again.

[Buckett]

the cruise activities staff, namely "Gold Rush Gary" and Chris. I won $150 in bingo on the first day, and was promptly hooked. :D I was very impressed that they remembered my name and always said hi whenever I ran into either one of them during the cruise.

 

Nikki Beach in Puerto Vallarta...this is a very nice hotel beach, in the newer part of PV. A taxi driver told us about it and drove us there, we really liked it. We saw Que, the cruise activities director, some of his staff, along with some spa staff there, so apparently it was a good choice! there is a bar right there on the sand where they serve drinks and food, also there are these big squares with pads and pillows on them that you can throw your towel and lay on, they easily fit 4 people and you dont even have to know the other 3, the pads are so big. The vendors are not allowed to come up and bother you either, so that was a big plus. Also in PV, down in the older part along the beach, I recommend a restaraunt called "La Palapa". Very nice place. lapalapapv dot com if you want to check it out.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Thanks for persevering to post your review, Buckett!! My family and I are going on our first cruise this summer to Alaska, and I have a feeling we are going to have the same reaction you did:) Really appreciate the extra time you took to make it work. I'll have to remember to post in the same way you did when I get back from our cruise.