Yum Yum Worshipers Cruise—a week in Review

[cruznon]

 

How do you explain to friends and co-workers that you’re going on a cruise with many friends—none of whom you’ve ever met? That’s what many of the YUMMERS (that’s what we call ourselves) did have to explain.

Over the past several months those of us on this cruise have had an incredibly active roll call—11,000+ posts and a 100,000 views! We’ve shared laughter as we’ve gotten to know each other. We were all so excited to meet each other.

Friday night before the cruise, we all met at Anthony’s for dinner. As some of us approached the entrance, there were many folks quietly seated. Then someone said “Yummers” and then joyous bedlam broke out!!! Hugs and laughter abounded as we finally met each other!

On Saturday morning we arrived at the pier around 11AM, found a porter, moved through the check-in process efficiently. Already groups of red YUMMER shirts were evident in the terminal. (There was a really funny moment when a lady walked up to us and saw a shirts which said "Yum Yum Worshipers Cruise" and asked if we were church group!)

By 11:45 we were on board. The Yum Yum men greeted us with broad smiles and as we moved toward the dining room many of the crew smiled and acknowledged the YUM YUM buttons we were all wearing! A section of the dining room was set-aside for us for lunch.

At 1:45 we went to our cabins. The steward then opened all the doors between the verandahs on the aft 5. The ability to walk the entire length of the aft 5 was one of the great joys the entire week.

At 2:20 Lisa and I and our DHs picked up the WAVE BANNER and move to forward deck 5 for the wave. It was a real delight for me to see the banner again. I had made it a year ago and signed it in the top corner. (Two other signatures were added that day.) When I checked out the back, there were hundreds of signatures!!! Approx 75 –80 waved as Copper John snapped photos of the 3:00 WAVE! What a great way to start the cruise.

We came back to find all our luggage and began the process of moving in . Next thing you know it was time for the lifeboat drill. All the Yummers wore crazy slippers to the drill. As we gathered, we looked across the dock to see the passengers on the Maasdam going through there drill also.

After the lifeboat drill, the first of several sail away parties began. Nearly 70 red –bedecked Yummers filled the entire aft 5 as champagne flowed and the lights of San Diego disappeared. I do wish someone would have thought to take photos from above—it must have been quite a sight.

The weather was absolutely fabulous the entire week. I have sailed several times from San Diego in February, and have never experienced such a warm sail away. The majority of the Yummers had 7:45 dinner—HAL had set aside and area for us during AWY dinner on lower lever. There were a couple of small glitches throughout the week, but the dinner set up was really fantastic for our group. We dined together, but could dine at different tables if we wished.

I’ve always loved aft cabins—this week the aft was glorious—the sound of the wake and the panoramic views were amazing. The stars at night are breath taking.

The first port was Cabo San Lucas. This small town has undergone major changes recently—so much growth not only in size, but also in prices. We found that throughout Mexico.

Many in the group went whale watching. Several went on a private charter boat and some on small zodiac tour. The photos brought back of breaching whales were amazing.

Four of us had a taxi take us to San Jose de Cabo—a small, charming town that must have been what Cabo San Lucas was about 20-30 years ago. (Only 15 minutes away from Cabo.) There was great growth also going on there also.

Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta were our next two ports. Some went to swim with dolphins. Several took the Stone Island tour in Mazatlan and loved it! Many for us planned lunches and shopping in these ports.

Each evening as we sailed, Yummers on the aft 5 gathered for appetizers and champagne. The sunsets were gorgeous—especially from Cabo.

This entire week, there were continuous small gatherings of Yummers who shared laughter as all enjoyed the joys of cruising.

Many Yummers attended the shows, casino and bingo. A small group of us had all done this itinerary before, so we simply relaxed on the aft 5 and enjoyed each other’s company. One evening 8 of us ordered dinner and dined on an aft verandah as the sun set—what a wonderful evening!

The Ship and Dining:

The Oosterdam is a beautiful and in marvelous condition. (However the verandah furniture is showing wear.)

The evening dining room service was great and the food was very good.

With the AWY dining, the Baked Alaska Parade was poorly timed. Most in downstairs AWY had already completed dessert when Parade began.

We went to the Lido twice—both times it seemed crowded—guess we hit it at busiest. We had lunch 3 times in dining room—excellent menus and service.

Room service was the one area on the Oosterdam that had definite problems. We ordered room service 6 times—never once was the order accurate. Near the end we tried to guess what we’d get ! We were not the only ones with this problem. Order a bagel—get an English muffin, ordered iced tea—got two pots of hot water and tea bags, we got fruit we hadn’t ordered , but no cream that we had ordered, etc.

The wait to order room service could take 10-15 minutes of waiting on the phone--even at 2PM, not exactly a major busy mealtime. Always on other HAL cruises, we would get an call from room service to make sure order was correct—never once happened on this cruise.

Our room steward, Sapto, was a gem!!! He was efficient and always kept all our cabins sparkling in the aft. Our verandas were washed down a couple of times that week.

It was a wonderful week. So wonderful in fact, that many of us have already rebooked for next . So, The Yummers Are Coming II is already on the roll call for next February 14th—a great way to celebrate Valentine’s Day—sailing away on the Oosterdam with a a group of friends you may never have met!!!

[hammybee]

Welcome home and thank you Peggy, for making the time to share it with us. Seeing that flag again with so many signatures must have been heartwarming. I love the way your put the stars at night as one of the value-addeds of the aft cabins. Yummer 2 sounds fabulous.

[kryos]

The wait to order room service could take 10-15 minutes of waiting on the phone--even at 2PM, not exactly a major busy mealtime. Always on other HAL cruises, we would get an call from room service to make sure order was correct—never once happened on this cruise.

You mean to tell me they leave you on HOLD?!?!?!

 

That's crazy.

 

On the QE2 (an old ship) they had this neat system whereby when you called to order room service, you got a message telling you that you'd receive a callback shortly. Then you just hung up. Anywhere between 2 and 10 minutes later your cabin phone rang with a human being at the other end ready to take your order.

 

I must be honest here, I've never had problems with room service orders being botched. On my last two HAL cruises my cabin mate and I ordered room service every morning, and rarely was an order wrong or missing items. Wonder if this could be due to a language barrier with the room service staff on the Oosterdam?

 

Sounds like a wonderful cruise! Glad you all had fun!

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[mamaofami]

Thank you, Peggy for the great review. It sounds like you all had a wonderful week. Isn't it amazing how people who meet on the roll call feel as though they know each other?

[sail7seas]

Thanks, Peggy, for a great review. Enjoyed reading it.

Happy you all had such a wonderful time.

[localady]

Peggy-

Thanks for your review!!:D My comments absolutely echo what you mentioned. I also agree re room service. Many times I finally just gave up as no one picked up the phone after 10 or so minutes. That was rather aggravating. :o We finally gave up and wandered upstairs for a snack in the afternoon.

That aside, we had a fabulous week made even more fabulous by our Yummer friends and are all ready for Yummer 2 !!:D :D :D

[HeatherInFlorida]

Peggy, I just loved this review. I really could feel what you all felt upon finally meeting when you've gotten to know each other for such a long time. The joy you felt for this cruise, despite some small problems, comes through in your words.

 

I'm so glad you mentioned the stars at night. I have never been attracted to the idea of an aft cabin because we're not crazy about being near the stern on such a large ship. But the stars at night could be make the deal!

 

So fun to have all those signatures on a banner that you created!:)