Forest Grump

2 hours ago, broberts said:

 

Post in the roll call thread. Quote the user you want to contact. If you can't locate a post of theirs, type @ and the first few letters of their username. Click on their name in the list. It will look something like @Forest Grump. When you submit your post they should get a notification.

Thanks, will be able to manage now

On 5/20/2019 at 8:34 AM, travelgirl45 said:

I am trying to get in touch with another member regard Meet and Greet.  It tells me I don't have the right to send emails?  I am tech challenged as it is, and I am having a hard time with this new version.  Thanks 

Hi travelgirl45,

I too  am having the same frustration about sending messages to other members listed on the Roll Call.

Forest Grump ( John)

We've never been to Australia or New Zealand or, actually to any of the other ports except for Seattle and Honolulu. I hope the Oosterdam has lots of things to do on our many sea days. Are you taking any tours?

Life on board will be relaxing with two long stretches of sea days as it is a repositioning cruise. Time to meet new friends, utilise ship's amenities, and enjoy cruising We haven't organized any tours yet but are really only interested in Honolulu at this stage. The section from Honolulu to Sydney does have several fine beaches for swimming & snorkelling etc. if interested.

If interested email me :- johnhancock@lifestylesa.net.au with specifics questions about Aussie tours I would be pleased to help.

John

and are you ending in Australia or going around New Zealand as well? I'm assuming you live in Australia?

Definitely going on to NZ. We live in Adelaide (South Australia) and did consider disembarking in Sydney, but thought the opportunity to go to NZ on a cruise too good to pass up, especially as it is a continuing cruise. Have visited NZ before on a land tour, and think this sea approach will be awesome.

We fly home direct to Adelaide from Auckland on the Sunday 9th

We are just in the process of paying our final amount for the cruise so it's all systems go now....

John

Hello,

It will be a long cruise and hopefully a good one. We arrive in Vancouver from Australia on Friday 26 September and join the Oosterdam on Sunday 28th

John

Hi Cathy,

keep me informed of any feedback about Hawaii excursions in particular if you would. Our first time there and this part of the world.

John

Hi there,

We too have booked on Oosterdam from Vancouver to Auckland on Sept. 28th 2014.We are also previous cruisers with HAL ( Alaska, Fiords of Norway, and the Mediterranean) and have really enjoyed the experiences, although the Med trip did not measure up to HAL's standards of excellence, in our particular case. However we have decided to go with them again, on this repositioning cruise. WE too have seen the many unflattering revues of the Oosterdam and HAL and the perceived staffing problems.

From our experiences last year on Noordam,it seems that fewer crew are asked to do more in less time. I found this to be true in some bar areas particularly during advertised functions when large numbers of passengers attended. This happened on at least 5 occasions. Personally we had no poor experiences in the main dining room which we used on most days because we enjoyed the meals even though the menus were repeated(it really was a back to back cruise though There were two minor problems with in-house dining orders but nothing to spoil the whole experience for us. There were some wide spread problems with plumbing on deck 8 in particular, but these were fixed eventually. We have learned that if all is not well, most problems can be dealt with by the front desk crew as they are at the coalface so to say, but sometimes they need several (almost daily!!) reminders until the problem is fixed! We look forward to hearing from you and meeting you perhaps early in the cruise. We fly to Vancouver from Adelaide to board the ship, and then fly Auckland to Adelaide at the end of what will be our longest cruise yet, hoping our experiences with HAL are as many and as pleasant as they have been in the past.

Forestgrump

aka John

One more beginning this cruise in Vancouver. Great news. I'm sure the Oosterdam will have many joining us in Seattle for the trip, but when I first saw it advertised I was pleased to leave from Vancouver as it gives us a chance to revisit Vancouver. We arrive in Vancouver on Friday 26th flying in from Auckland. As we live in Adelaide, South Australia, we could have disembarked in Sydney, but thought the extra few days to New Zealand would be a bonus for us. If you email me at jhsevenT@gmail.com we could further cement Aus/Canada bonds.

Welcome aboard,

John

Hello there,

John & Nanette from Adelaide, South Australia are sailing from Vancouver to Sydney on September 28 2014(and then going on to Auckland NZ). I have found very few people beginning this cruise in Vancouver, as most seem to be joining the cruise on September 29 in Seattle. Perhaps we will the Oosterdam to ourselves for the first night's sailing??

Hopefully we can meet one day!

John

Oosterdam sailing from Vancouver on September 28th. 2014.

Disembarking in Auckland after visiting Sydney, Melbourne & Hobart.

This repositioning cruise is 39 days....our longest yet!

Future Cruise

Forest Grump is sailing on :-:)

Oosterdam on September 28th 2014

From Vancouver to Auckland

This repositioning cruise is for 40 days, disembarking on November 7th 2014