Oosterdam Review - June 3-10

[fsdj1097]

We have just returned from our Oosterdam Alaska sailing R/T Seattle June 3-10.

 

We were a group of 3, myself, DW, and our 15 YO Nephew. We have had 4 previous cruises on on HAL. This is our 4th HAL ship, second Vista Class.

 

We booked a Category SS mini-suite located on the Upper Veranda deck. Very nice location, amidships, we really enjoy the SS cabins.

 

We were able to obtain one of the complimentary rooms in the Seattle Fairmont for a pre-night stay. Very nice accomodations, with transfers from SeaTac to hotel, and then hotel to pier.

 

Air connections on the flight out were tight, but we made it, barely. Literally walked off one flight, immediately to the next gate, and boarded the flight to Seattle. I would not recommend any connecting flights in DFW with less than 1 hour layover.

 

After a Starbucks visit early Saturday morning, we returned to the Fairmont, and delivered our luggage to a central location for transfer to the Oosterdam. The bus left the Fairmont at noon for the short ride to the pier.

 

The express check-in line at the pier was long, but moved fairly quickly. We were onboard before 1:00PM. After our first Lido Lunch, announcements were made that the cabins were ready at approximately 1:45. However, our luggage did not make it to our cabin until after lifeboard drill at 3:00. We met our cabin steward, Hari, who seemed a little reserved at first (but as the week progressed, loosened up and had a great attitude). Hari took wonderful care of us and made sure my wife went home with a good supply of the dutch facial soap that she loves. Hari, I believe was a magician before coming to the Oosterdam, as we never actually caught him in the room, but the cabin was spotless, the ice bucket always full, and the towel animals appeared nightly.

 

The Oosterdam got underway at precisely 4:00 PM, heading for the Straits of Juan de Fuca. We didn't attend the sailaway festivities, just watched from the verandah.

 

We had the early dining, and really enjoyed the "leisure" aspect of arriving anytime between 5:30 & 6:00 PM. We arrived in the dining room at approximately 5:45, met our dining room steward, Suparwatar. With such a long name, we simply called him "soup"! Soup met our every request with a smile and a friendly "of course". Additional lobster tails, two appetizers, multiple dessert requests were delivered promptly. In a word, he spoiled us rotten.

 

After dinner, we walked up to the crows nest to watch the Oosterdam transit the Straits and around Vancouver Island into the open Pacific. The sunset was stunning. I have posted picture at this link http://community.webshots.com/user/fsdj1097.

 

The Pacific lived up to its name this trip as we never encountered seas above the "slight" rating. I was a little leery of this itenerary because of the reports from earlier sailings this year and from some Oosterdam passengers that we met in Juneau last year that reported seas in excess of 30'.

 

We retired early this evening feeling a little residual jet lag and wanting to be at our best for our first full day at sea.

 

I will continue this review as time permits and welcome any questions and comments.

 

Sam

[doone]

GREAT pictures, thanks for sharing them with us. Can't wait for the next installment of your review.

[kimmeesook]

i look forward to reading the rest of your review! :)

[as41shots]

How did your son enjoy? He looks about 15/16 + or -, and we will be on the Westerdam in August with our 16 and 12 year olds. Were there many kids for him to hang out with?

 

Thanks.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Thanks for writing your review, Sam.:) I remember in your previous postings you mentioned that your nephew is an athlete. Was he able to keep up his daily workouts, and find enough physical activity to do?

[fsdj1097]

Two things we always do upon embarkation is to check our dining room table number and then get our bearings (if on a ship that's new to us). One thing new to us this trip was that they listed your dining room table number on your id card. I really like that.

 

This trip, because we had our nephew (Zach) with us, we visited the fitness center to inquire as to the possibility of Zach having access to the center. Zach is a track athlete and wanted to continue running while on board. The posted rules are that the fitness center is only open to those 16 and over. Zach turned 15 in May. We were told that no exceptions would be made in the rules. Zach would have to be accompanied by my wife or myself in order to use the center. Zach is a pretty easy going teenager and wasn't too disappointed. One plus was that on the Oosterdam, they allow jogging on the teak promenade deck. On the Zaandam last year there were "No Jogging Allowed" signs posted on the promenade. So, Zach was able to continue his training while onboard.

 

Zach reported that there was a large group of teens who were coming to the Loft. Last year, we cruised in late May and there were very few kids on board. He was excited about the numbe or youth and was looking forward to all the activities.

 

A couple of things that we enjoyed last year on the Zaandam were missing from the Oosterdam. The mats that were placed in the elevators that listed the days of the week were not there on this cruise. We have sailed on other Vista Class ships and the mats were on those ships, but not on the Oosterdam. Not sure why. Also, there was no Dutch Night with the little hats on this cruise, either. Wednesday night had the traditional Dutch and Indonesian dishes, but no hats. Neither of these impacted our enjoyment of the cruise, but we have always enjoyed them.

 

Sunday was a sea day as we sailed around Vancouver Island and headed north toward Juneau. We encountered smooth seas and light rain throughout the day. Captain Van der Waard kept us posted as to our position and heading. We love the sea days as there are always extra games and activities and we are big time game players. There was a big group of folks from Texas and another from Australia. Good natured competition was evident from the very first Team Trivia and continued throughout the cruise. There were some sharp trivia players on board and winning was tough.

 

I always carry a GPS with me and kept track of our location, ship speed, and distance traveled. Sitting in the Crow's Nest, we spotted many Dall Porpoise, the occasional whale, and kept our eyes open for Orcas.

 

Sunday night was our first Formal Night. We always enjoy getting dressed up and I would estimate 80% of the passengers arrived in what I would call formal wear. There was one table that through out the cruise sported jeans nightly. To my knowledge, nothing was said.

 

Tomorrow would be our first port of call - Juneau. We had booked a helicopter glacier landing and were looking forward to it.

[as41shots]

Glad to hear that Zach enjoyed. Our eldest is also a Zach, and he has also been interested in the fitness center, and he just turned 16 last week.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[fsdj1097]

We arrived to low clouds and a light rain in Juneau. We had booked a helicopter flight up to a glacier landing through Orca Enterprises. We docked at the AJ dock and had to take a bus to downtown. Gray Line busses ran from the dock to downtown continuously during the day and for a $2 ticket, you could ride as many times as you wanted.

 

We went straight to Orca to confirm our helicopter flight and were assured that, inspite of the weather, we were still flying.

 

We strolled around the downtown area and Zach bought a ulu knife for his dad. I think the Alaska Knife Works store has the best selection of quality Ulus in Juneau. My wife and I looked for some Alexandrite at the Fire & Ice Jewelers, but they were a bit out of our price range (translated = way out!).

 

We then walked back to Orca and waited for the shuttle from Temsco to pick us up for the short ride to the Juneau International Airport. Once there, we were fitted with Glacier booties and then led out to the helicopter. I was a little apprehensive about the flight, as I don't fly well. Was I ever pleasantly surprised! The flight was very smooth and the pilot did an excellent job of narrating what we were seeing as we crossed Auke Bay on the way to Herbert Glacier.

 

After a short flight, the pilot sat the helicopter down on the glacier, turned off the engines, and walked with us for about 30 minutes. He gave us a crash course in Glacier 101 and answered every question that we asked. It was raining pretty steady and, even with the glacier boots, the ice was pretty slick. Cyndie fell once and bruised her knee, and we decided it was time to head back to the helicopter.

 

Another flight over Auke Bay and, as if on cue, a humpback spouted and surfaced just below us. I joked with the pilot about charging us for a whale watch tour and he promised not to tell the boss if we wouldn't.

 

After being dropped at the Red Dog, we grabbed a quick bite and then caught the bus back to the Oosterdam.

 

One thing that I've noticed after this, my second trip to Alaska, is that the port times have been cleverly planned to give you just enough time that you will vow to come back again and book a different excursion.

 

Dinner on Monday was casual and there were many wearing jeans in the dining room that night. Zach and I stuck with the slacks and open-collared dress shirts in firm defiance!!!

 

Hari had left us a towel elephant on top of the tv in the stateroom and the note from the Captain reminding that tomorrow was our visit to Hubbard Glacier. Glacier days are always one of my personal favorites.

 

Cyndie and I spent a little time in the casino, and left our usual donation.

 

We placed our room service order form on the door and enjoyed that wonderful mattress and linens.

[fsdj1097]

Tuesday was our day to visit Hubbard Glacier. On glacier days, HAL sets up special tables on the Observation decks and serves their wonderful Split Pea soup. Make sure that you take advantage of this as it is delicious.

 

Hubbard Glacier is over 6 miles across and 76 miles long. It is the one of the few advancing tidewater glaciers. She didn't disappoint us today as there was a ton of calving. Capt. Van der Waard pulled the Oostedam to just under a mile away. He manuvered the ship from side to side to allow everyone plenty of opportunities for viewing and photo taking. There are several outside accesses to viewing decks on the Oosterdam, typically at the forward end of the passageways. If you ask your cabin steward, he can direct you.

 

We saw several seals, with their pups, either resting on ice bergs, or swimming in the water. Also, there was a bald eagle perched on top of one of the bergs.

 

The entrance to Yakutat bay passes the Elias mountain range and is gorgeous. I would strongly recommend being on deck as you enter or leave for some wonder photo ops.

 

It's always a sad thing for me when we leave the glaciers as they are such a dynamic force. I can imagine the first explorers as they experienced the same awe that I feel when in the presence of these mighty rivers of ice.

 

Tomorrow will be Sitka, with an opportunity to fish for salmon and halibut. We have booked a charter directly with Sitka Charters. Cheston and Angela Filler own Sitka Charters and we have heard many good reports on the company. In visiting with Angela over the course of the year via email, she reported that Cheston is one of those daring men who brave the Bering Sea each year in search of the king crab. It is a very lucrative venture, but also very dangerous. Angela had reported that this year's catch was excellent, with the share afforded to Cheston helped them to do what they love the most....charter boat fishing.

[karen2cruz]

Thank you so much for your thorough review. We are looking forward to our cruise in August!

[fsdj1097]

The Oosterdam arrived in Sitka right on schedule - 7:00 AM. We were up early and grabbed a quick Cafe Mocha and cinnamon roll from the Windstar Cafe. Cyndie ate some melon from the Lido, something that she later regretted.

 

Another difference from the Zaandam cruise last year was that the size and quality of the cinnamon rolls available at the Windstar was a disappointment. The rolls available at the Explorations Cafe on the Zaandam were huge and dripping with icing. The ones from the Windstar were pretty average in size and had almost no icing. I think last year Zach's mocha tab was considerably larger than this year.

 

We were tendered to the pier right at 7:30 AM and met Angela and her crew from Sitka Charters. We completed the paperwork for our fishing licenses and were escorted down to the fishing dock where we met our Captain.

 

Brooks Areson has been a charter boat captain in Alaska for many years. He grew up in the lower 48 along the Eastern Seaboard. Born into a commercial fishing family, mostly gill-netters, he came to visit Alaska and fell in love with the beauty and abundant wildlife.

 

He charters for Sitka Charters when they have a need for him, and also works for a lodge in the area. He is a very capable charter boat captain and we were impressed with his knowledge of the area, the flora and fauna, and was a down-to-earth kinda guy who is very easy to talk to.

 

The day started out cloudy and cool. There was little wind, and the seas were nice and smooth as we cast off our lines and headed out towards the cape.

 

After about a 30 minute run, Capt. Brooks eased back on the throttle and we immediately started picking up salmon flashes on the fish finder. The deck hands were brothers from the UP of Michigan. We were quickly rigged and baited and almost immediately Zach had a fish on. It was apparent very quickly that this was not a salmon, but turned out to be a black sea bass. We caught and released several sea bass before I hooked into something that when I set hook was very solid.

 

I will continue this story a little later as I'm pressed for time.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

I will continue this story a little later as I'm pressed for time.

 

Sam, please don't leave us "on the hook"!:) Waiting with bated breath for your next installment. This is a great review so far!

[fsdj1097]

Sorry for the delay in completing this review. I'm without web access during the weekends.

 

As I was saying, it was obvious that the fish that was 150' below the boat was not a rock fish or sea bass. This fish had no intentions of giving up without a fight. To compound the problem, Zach now had on a salmon of equal porportion to mine. We had to do a little dance every now and then going either under or over the other's line as we fought the fish around and around the fishing boat.

 

I bought my king (or chinook) salmon up to just within reach of Capt. Brooks gaff, only to have it turn and peel of another 60' of line. Unfortunately, Zach's fish pulled free, leaving me to freely fight mine without having to worry about getting tangled.

 

The king had been on for several minutes and had been brought alongside a couple of times, only to dive back down making the drag sing. My shoulders were aching from the strength of the fish, and I wasn't sure who actually had who hooked.

 

Finally, the salmon came alongside the boat and turned on it's side signifying that it was ready for the gaff. Capt. Brooks expertly gaffed the king and hoisted in aboard. I'm not sure who was more tired.

 

Cyndie had landed a few more rock fish and was showing signs of seasickness. She finally gave up and went inside the cabin to try and get to feeling better.

 

Zach caught a king tha nearly matched mine in size, and then Cyndie's rod did a little twitch and then pulled straight down. She came out of the cabin in time to fight and land the king before returning to the cabin to lay down again.

 

Now that we had our limit of kings, Capt. Brooks recommended that we make another run out to a ledge in approx. 500 feet of water in hopes of catching a halibut.

 

We agreed, and in a few minutes we were heading out to deeper water. We sighted a whale spouting just ahead. Capt. Brooks slowed the boat and suddenly we were surrounded by several humpbacks loafing on or near the surface. We counted 8 different whales and got some good pictures of backs and tails and they continued to spout and rest nearby.

 

After a few minutes, we headed on out to the deep water ledge that Capt. Brooks wanted to try out luck at Halibut. We were soon anchored and had the deep rods baited. In the meanwhile, I used a salmon rod baited with herring to catch several silver and one pink salmon.

 

We fished for approximately 2 hours hoping for the big boys to bite, but, alas, it wasn't to be. We caught a couple of smallish halibut and several red-eyed rock fish (Brooks called the red snapper).

 

The, all-too-soon, it was time to head back in. We passed a couple of sea otters loafing on the surface as we ran back in. We stopped at the fish processing dock and offloaded our catch to be processed and shipped back to our home.

 

We had a wonderful time fishing in Sitka and would highly recommend Sitka Charters for a professional fish charter experience.

 

The Oosterdam pulled out of Sitka at exactly 5:00 PM heading to Ketchikan. We were a little sad that our cruise was now in it's downhill side, but we were thankful for the opportunity to visit Alaska again.

 

Tomorrow would be our Rainforest Canopy Zipline excursion and we were very excited.

[fsdj1097]

I'm going to wrap up this review in this segment. Thursday's port was Ketchikan. We had booked the Rainforest Canoy Zipline adventure through HAL. I tried to find a way to book independently, but couldn't find a way to do that.

 

This was one of our favorite excursions, ever. We were picked up at the pier and bussed out to the Rainforest Sanctuary location that overlooks the Tongass Narrows.

 

The crew that outfitted us with the zipline gear and then took us through the course were very good at their job. Safety was paramount throughout the rigging up and the over the course. I never felt any fear, only the exhilaration of being in an absolute gorgeous setting and feeling the freedom of being on the zipline.

 

Cyndie has had multiple knee and one back surgery. We shared that with the crew while rigging up and they have special harnesses for those who have back problems. There was a set of stairs and ramps that you had to climb to get to the first platform. Cyndie took her time and made it with just a little difficulty. She was determined to complete the course, and later said that she was proud of herself for perserveering.

 

I would recommend the course to anyone who has an adventurous spirit.

 

Friday was basically a sea day with a short stop in Victoria, BC. We docked around 6:00 and departed again around midnight. We did not have any shore excursions booked for this port and just went to the pier and visited a small shop that had internet access and a few shirts and jackets for sell.

 

We arrived in Seattle on time Saturday morning and disembarkation started around 8:30. We had booked private transfer via Seattle Shuttle Express. We were off the ship by 9:00 AM, and at the airport before 10:00.

 

Unfortunately, our flight out of Seattle was delayed over 40 minutes, causing us to miss our connection in DFW.

 

We plan to return to Alaska again next year and are already exploring iteneraries.

 

We had a great cruise and I will be happy to answer any questions.

[scopewest]

Thanks for a wonderful review, I felt I was there with you. You said you used a GPS while onboard. May I ask what make and model it was?

[kimmeesook]

again, thanks so much for your review. we are on the O'dam in august so this was a great way to get an idea of what to expect. thanks! :)

[tickleddpink]

Thanks for the review -- my cousin and I also had Hari as our cabin steward back in May and, best of all, Brooks was our fishing guide on the Roamer in Sitka. Sounds like you had a great day fishing. Nancy and I both caught a King Salmon and some halibut, enough for 2 each.

 

On the way out, Brooks was talking to another boat saying, "I've got a couple of women and we'll probably be doing a lot of sightseeing." Ha! My cousin has been fishing since she was young and was determined to catch a King.

 

Sounds like you had a great time.

 

Jane

[fsdj1097]

Thanks for a wonderful review, I felt I was there with you. You said you used a GPS while onboard. May I ask what make and model it was?

Hi Scopewest,

 

My lovely bride was kind enough to surprise me witha Magellan Meridian Color GPS for Christmas a couple of years ago.

 

The Meridian is a wonderful companion on a cruise as you can plot your current location, speed, nearest lighthouse, city, airport, etc. I have set waypoints in Seattle, Vancouver, Glacier Bay, Hubbard Glacier, and all of the cities visited along the Inside Passage.

 

I also use it on my hunting trips to mark my stand locations, and, of course the way back to camp!!! :eek:

 

Sam

[fsdj1097]

Thanks for the review -- my cousin and I also had Hari as our cabin steward back in May and, best of all, Brooks was our fishing guide on the Roamer in Sitka. Sounds like you had a great day fishing. Nancy and I both caught a King Salmon and some halibut, enough for 2 each.

 

On the way out, Brooks was talking to another boat saying, "I've got a couple of women and we'll probably be doing a lot of sightseeing." Ha! My cousin has been fishing since she was young and was determined to catch a King.

 

Sounds like you had a great time.

 

Jane

 

Hi Jane,

 

We had a wonderful time with Brooks. My wife has fished all her life was well, and in spite of a bout with sea sickness (including some chumming :eek:, she managed to land a nice king, a smallish halibut, and some nice rock fish. She's a pretty tough cookie and wasn't going to let anything stop her from catching her share.

 

 

Hari was a great cabin steward with a nice smile and a can-do attitude. We have always enjoyed our cabin stewards on HAL. Last year we were reunited with June on the Zaandam whom we had met previously on the Zuiderdam.

 

Glad you enjoyed the review. Time to start planning for next year!! ;).

 

Sam

[scopewest]

Sam:

 

Thanks for the GPS info!