Dave’s Live From Oosterdam 21-day Southern Caribbean, Jan. 29 – Feb. 19, 2016

Thx for the update. I look forward to reading your thread daily. Thx for all your hard work.

Dave,

From the picture, it looks like the Oosterdam is docked on the ocean side, rather than in the channel inside the "swinging bridge." We were in Curacao 4 years ago on the Zuiderdam, and it was also docked in the channel.

The reason I'm asking is to plan walking distance to places we would like to visit. My wife has some limitations on walking.

Dave, thanks for the pics and report. I've done that Ostrich farm and Aloe Vera farm excursion, and I must say it was one of the most fun and interesting we have done.

Loved the pictures.

We did that tour several years ago -- different cruise line. And loved it.

Dave,

 

From the picture, it looks like the Oosterdam is docked on the ocean side, rather than in the channel inside the "swinging bridge." We were in Curacao 4 years ago on the Zuiderdam, and it was also docked in the channel.

 

The reason I'm asking is to plan walking distance to places we would like to visit. My wife has some limitations on walking.

Yes, Oosterdam docked at the Mega Pier, outside the inner channel. The photo I posted above of Willemstad in early morning shows the coastal path from the cruise pier area (at the left end of the picture) to the Riffort; the buildings at the right are on the other side of Anna Bai. The swinging bridge is just outside the Riffort. All told, about a half-mile or so from the ship to the bridge. I don't know if that is doable for your wife, but the paths are mostly smooth and flat, and we have seen people with canes and other mobility issues manage the walk. I hope it works for you if you dock at the Mega Pier.

Dave

Thursday, February 4, Curacao (Cont.)

We continue to be in Code Red. The Captain said this evening that we have 18 cases, and the ship is continuing the disinfection protocol. Breakfast at the Lido was a case of being served coffee, cereal, fruit, etc. They had pressed into service the shore excursions staff; and a hotel staff officer served me my sliced fruit. At happy hour in the Ocean Bar, they served nuts in individual small ramekins, and I was surprised that they still served hot hors d’oeuvres (no bitterballen yet). We were still served bread and butter at dinner, and salt and pepper were in the little paper packets.

We are thinking that we did the right thing to book an excursion on turnaround day in Ft. Lauderdale, as the ship may be doing a deep clean, which would delay re-boarding.

But, hey, they had prime rib again in the MDR, which is why we chose that instead of the Caribbean barbeque on the Lido (let’s see, jerk chicken on this hand, prime rib on the other, jerk chicken, prime rib … what to choose?!)

Here is the dinner and dessert menu:

Starters – Soups – Salads

* Summer Fruit Salad with Sambuca – Sambuca-flavored dressing

* Garden Symphony with Montrachet – marinated mushrooms, zucchini, asparagus and green bell peppers, herbed goat cheese, tarragon-balsamic vinaigrette

* Crab and Shrimp Crostini – chilli crème fraiche

* Chicken and Orzo Soup – spinach and grated Parmesan cheese

* Caribbean Fish Chowder – roasted red bell pepper, cream, potato, celery, diced pumpkin

* Chilled Pineapple and Cucumber Soup – macadamia nuts, jalapeno, cilantro

* Orange and Mixed Green Salad – mixed greens, olives, feta, red onion

Holland America Line Signatures

* French Onion Soup “Les Halles” – Gruyere cheese crouton

* Classic Caesar Salad – Parmesan cheese, garlic croutons, anchovies

Mains

* Orecchiette with Italian Sausage and Escarole – white win, diced Roma tomatoes, lemon cream, Pecorino Romano

* Brazilian Shrimp Salad – sautéed bell peppers, onion, tomato, mixed greens, parsley-cilantro vinaigrette

* Roasted Mahi-Mahi with Moroccan-Style Barbeque Sauce – couscous, braised cabbage

* Prime Rib of Beef au Jus – braised celery, roasted butternut squash, Jackson potato

* Grilled Lamb Chops with Oregano and Apple Chutney – mint oil, yellow zucchini, sautéed pesto-cherry tomatoes

* Coq au Vin – red wine, mushrooms, onions, bacon, celeriac puree

* Vegetable Pot Pie – mixed vegetables, cheese sauce, flaky pastry crust

Holland America Line Signatures

* Grilled Salmon with Ginger-Cilantro Pesto – basmati rice, Swiss chard, garlic cherry tomatoes

* Broiled New York Strip Loin – cauliflower gratin, green peppercorn sauce

* Oven-Roasted Chicken – quinoa loaf, herb roasted vegetables, jus

Desserts

* Snickers Cake – chocolate sponge, peanut-nougat cream, salted caramel frosting

* Blackberry-Lemon Meringue Tartlet – fruit coulis

* Wild Berries Bread and Butter Pudding – triple berry compote

* Crème Brulee – vanilla-scented custard, warm vanilla sauce

* Apple Crisp – French vanilla ice cream

* Cheese and Fruit – Gorgonzola, Port l’Eveque, Maaslander, Edam

* Sliced Fruit Plate – selection of fresh fruit

* Raspberry Mousse Torte no sugar added – vanilla sponge cake, sugar-free raspberry mousse

* Blackberry Sundae – French vanilla ice cream, blackberry compote, whipped cream

* Ice Cream – Vanilla, Coffee, Mango Sorbet, Strawberry Frozen Yogurt, Vanilla no sugar added, Mint Chip no sugar added

After Dinner Drinks

* Violet Beauregard, in souvenir glass – Chambord and Crème de Cacao: $6.95

* Espresso: $1.25

* Cappuccino: $1.75

- ask your serve for additional drink selections

More later,

Dave

Nice job, Dave.

Thank you for sharing with us

Thanks for your review. We'll be on this same cruise in about 2 weeks. Really can't wait. Your pics are fabulous.

Enjoying your live reports. Thanks so much for letting us cruise with you.

Hello Dave, I'm Allen, and we are B O F, that is Birds Of a Feather. I retired from a 4 decades career as a government lawyer, and Sandy and I live in Alexandria/ Fairfax County. We are traveling the same back-to-back itinerary on m/s Oosterdam on its next sailing cycle. By the time we get on board on February 19th, it will be deja vu all over again. I've researched our port stops and planned our days -- tours or on-our-own, but your descriptions and photos have been a great help. And, posting the daily menus will make unnecessary my daily trip to the MDR each afternoon to plan my dinner. Smooth sailing.

Friday, February 5, Aruba

We had booked a walking tour of things we had not seen before, including Aruba’s new linear park, but it was cancelled because not enough people signed up. So, since we have been to Aruba often and have done most of the trips, we decided just to walk ashore and wander and see what befalls today.

Here are the first four pages of today’s On Location:

Friday, February 5, Aruba (Cont.)

Here are the other two pages of the On Location:

And the Aruba guide pages:

More later,

Dave

Enjoy your day in Aruba! When we were there last month, we just walked around town. Boy, was it hot. We ended up stopping at The Paddock, which is an open air restaurant next to the water, and had a tropical drink. While sitting there cooling down, we were able to do a lot of people watching.

Dave - would you mind taking a look at the wines by the glass list and look to see if a white called nobilo Sauvignon blank is available and at what price? I've heard that it's available but that you have to ask for it and that it qualifies for the sbp. Trying to verify before pre-paying for the package on a cruise in a couple weeks. Thanks!

Thx for the update.

We are boarding on Monday and just received an e-mail for HAL that there is an outbreak of NORO onboard and boarding will be delayed for the ship to be disinfected. Hope you are well....and the ship is spic and span and free of the noro when be board on Monday:):):)

Friday, February 5, Aruba (Cont.)

We took our time over breakfast and enjoyed lattes in the Explorations Café. I took some shots of the town of Oranjestad and the resorts along the northwest coast of the island:

We watched as most of the tour takers went ashore and boarded their buses, and then we set out. We went through the cruise terminal, where we got a map from the tourist info booth. There were a few shops in the terminal, and I saw a sign offering wifi. A few years ago, I got an hour of wifi for I think $4; prices may have gone up.

We walked out and along the waterfront, where we saw a line of permanent stalls where vendors offered items for sale:

Just past that was The Paddock that Mtn2Sea mentioned; it is decorated with spots like a Holstein cow. There were some policemen enjoying coffee and a few tourists, but it was fairly early yet, so we went on.

Past the Paddock was the Renaissance Marketplace, a collection of shops, restaurants and cinemas, part of the huge Renaissance Resort right downtown. We went a bit further along to the small but pretty Wilhelmina Park, where there is a statue of the namesake former Queen of the Netherlands:

We backtracked a bit and turned north past the Protestant Church and onto main street. One thing that has changed since we last were here is that there is now a free trolley. It runs from just outside the cruise port area, down the main street as far as Plaza Nikki, and then returns. A lot of fellow passengers were taking advantage of the free ride:

We then found it starting to get hot, so we did some looking into shops (especially those with air conditioning), but we didn’t buy anything but a bottle of water and some Tic-Tacs. We looked at Iguana Joe’s with an eye to something in a cold beer bottle, but realized that with our SBC cards, the beer was free on board. So, we came back, had lunch in the Lido and DW had iced tea and I had a Grolsch, which went well with the couple of thin slices of rare beef loin I got from the carvery station.

We then ordered a large bottle of San Pellegrino mineral water and two large glasses of ice, and took them with us to lounge on our balcony for a while, until the sun hit it and chased us inside (we have been an hour ahead of Eastern Standard time for several days now).

We have always had pleasant visits to Aruba, and this was the same. It is a good place to pull into on a cruise.

More later,

Dave

We just watched you depart from aruba. Have enjoyed your reports and sorry to hear of the noro on board the ship. Hope you are able to stay healthy and enjoy the rest of the cruise.

Dave

I know that you have booked an excursion for turn around day on Monday.

Do you know what will happen to those who have not booked an excursion?

The usual 3 toots.

Dave

I know that you have booked an excursion for turn around day on Monday.

Do you know what will happen to those who have not booked an excursion?

KK,

Not yet, but we have been invited to a meeting tomorrow to discuss all the details of the turnaround. I'll report what I learn.

Dave

Friday, February 5, Aruba (Cont.)

We did not much at all the rest of the afternoon before our pre-dinner drinks. The Captain announced that we had 7 new cases of noro, but that others had been released from quarantine, so that we now had 11 restricted cases, down from 18 yesterday. We are still being encouraged to wash our hands like Lady MacBeth, and to give the old stink eye to those who don’t.

Thanks for the warning about the deep clean on Monday, ZSandy25. We have a meeting tomorrow for those staying on to discuss customs and immigration details, shore excursions, etc. We expect to hear about the deep clean, and probably will have more takers for shore excursions, a better choice than just hanging around the terminal for hours before being allowed to re-board.

A minor whine: for dinner, I ordered the steamed mussels as a starter, and asked for two portions. Our server brought a triple order, which totaled 18 mussels. That is almost as much as half of an appetizer order in a restaurant in the U.S. or Canada, where the standard is usually one pound for appetizer, two pounds for main course. So, a hint – if you like mussels and order this starter, ask for at least a triple order, because HAL is very skimpy on their mussel portions. The mussels were very tasty, I must admit; I just could have used a lot more.

Here is the dinner and dessert menu:

Starters – Soups – Salads

* Watermelon Cocktail – bathed in zippy orange sauce

* Bruschetta di Parma – toasted focaccia, mascarpone, roasted red bell pepper, Prosciutto, extra virgin olive oil

* Steamed Black Mussels – white wine, garlic, tomato, parsley, heavy cream, garlic toast

* Cream of Five Onions Soup – Spanish, Vidalia, red and white onions, vegetable stock, cream, white wine, scallions

* Tortilla Soup with Mushrooms – vegetable broth, tomatoes, button, oyster and shiitake mushrooms, diced avocado, watercress, chipotle chili, goat cheese

* Chilled Blackberry Soup – topped with tangy, lemon-mint crème fraiche

* Roasted Beet and Blue Cheese Salad – iceberg lettuce, avocado, cherry tomatoes, red bell peppers

Holland America Line Signatures

* French Onion Soup “Les Halles” – Gruyere cheese crouton

* Classic Caesar Salad – Parmesan cheese, garlic croutons, anchovies

Mains

* Spaghetti Putanesca – marinara sauce, anchovies, capers, black olives, garlic, oregano

* Barbeque Chicken Salad – avocado, tomato, corn, black beans, cucumber, romaine, barbeque Ranch dressing, onion strings

* Crispy Sweet-and-Sour Shrimp – steamed jasmine rice, sweet-and-sour vegetables

* Tri-Tip with Roasted Shallot Vinaigrette – cheesy polenta cake, sautéed greens

* Galumpki - cabbage, rice, ground meat, tomato sauce, root vegetables

* Chicken Cassoulet – smoked pork sausage, white beans, garlic breadcrumbs

* Cantonese-Style Tofu Satay – wok-seared Asian vegetables

Holland America Line Signatures

* Grilled Salmon with Ginger-Cilantro Pesto – basmati rice, Swiss chard, garlic cherry tomatoes

* Broiled New York Strip Loin – cauliflower gratin, green peppercorn sauce

* Oven-Roasted Chicken – quinoa loaf, herb roasted vegetables, jus

Desserts

* Chocolate Panna Cotta – vanilla ice cream, fruit caviar, almond macaroon

* Banana Tatin – vanilla ice cream

* Coconut Rice Pudding – raisins, ginger, lemongrass, vanilla bean, fried pineapple

* Crème Brulee – vanilla-scented custard, warm vanilla sauce

* Banana Crisp – French vanilla ice cream

* Cheese and Fruit – Roquefort, Pere Brie,l Beecher’s Dutch Hollow Dulcet, Maaslander

* Sliced Fruit Plate – selection of fresh fruit

* Cheesecake – cream cheese, vanilla, mint

* Pineapple Sundae – French vanilla ice cream, pineapple chunks, chocolate sauce, whipped cream

* Ice Cream – Vanilla, Pina Colada, Passion Fruit Sorbet, Mixed Berry Frozen Yogurt, Vanilla no sugar added, Neapolitan no sugar added

After Dinner Drinks

* Southern Belle Cordial, in souvenir glass – Grand Marnier and Southern Comfort: $6.95

* Espresso: $1.25

* Cappuccino: $1.75

- ask your serve for additional drink selections

More later,

Dave

I think Hal's portions in the MDR can be on the small side depending on what you order. I hope the Norwalk list goes down.

KK,

 

Not yet, but we have been invited to a meeting tomorrow to discuss all the details of the turnaround. I'll report what I learn.

 

Dave

Thank you

The usual 3 toots.

Have no idea how this post ended up on this thread.

Sorry