Pipedreams62 Live from The Amsterschwartz.... Holidays Thru The Panama Canal

[pipedreams62]

Well it's getting close. I'm reporting from the Hilton in Long beach. In a few minutes I will take a cab to the Ms Amsterdam and start my Holiday cruise.

 

We arrived yesterday and had a police escort to our hotel. yes that's right a police escort. We were greeted at the luggage carousel by John Copper 10-8.

 

John picked us up and gave us a tour before dropping us off at our hotel. It was a highlight of the trip to finally meet him. We had lots of laughs during the ride,and hope I can return the favor when he cruises out of Florida one day. Thanks for everything John (I love You Man)

 

I will do my best to report in when I can. Joanie I will send you pictures of the stateroom,when I get back.

 

We've eaten nothing so I'm ready to gorge as soon as we board.

 

Happy Holidays all..... I'll check in later.

 

"May The Schwartz Be With You

 

Jay

[mudscraper]

Have a great cruise. Very nice limo service:)

Has John cleaned out his locker yet.:)

 

 

Rich

[IRL_Joanie]

Pipedreams when I saw you had a Police Escort I was really worried that your photos/posts had caught up with you:eek:

 

Glad to hear it was our own Copper10-8!!!

 

Looking forward to hearing everything ffrom you on this cruise!!!!! I KNOW it will be hilarious!!

 

Of course I will also be eagerly awaiting your return so we can not only read the full review but see the photos also!!

 

Have a HAL of a DAM Blast and Merry Christmas!!

 

Joanie

[sail7seas]

Have a Wonderful cruise, Pipedreams.

Fair Winds and a Following Sea......... :)

 

[suse]

Enjoy your cruise!:)

[RevNeal]

We arrived yesterday and had a police escort to our hotel. yes that's right a police escort. We were greeted at the luggage carousel by John Copper 10-8.

 

John picked us up and gave us a tour before dropping us off at our hotel. It was a highlight of the trip to finally meet him. We had lots of laughs during the ride,and hope I can return the favor when he cruises out of Florida one day. Thanks for everything John (I love You Man)

 

Did he put cuffs on ya? :D ;)

 

Book 'em, Danno!

[pipedreams62]

Well the ship was in "Code Red" last trip. I already knew this all week because spinner and a blogger were reporting it.

 

I called HAL in Seattle last week several times and they kept telling me the ship was NOT in code red disputing the bloggers that were actually on the ship.

 

Last night I called to make sure that passengers would be boarding at the regular time. They assured me that it would be normal boarding time.

 

Being that I'm the nervous worry wart type, I phoned them again this morning to ask what time they will board passengers.

 

I was told boarding would start at 11:30

 

well we arrived at 11:30 only to find out they weren't boarding till 2pm

 

I hate to be a whiney sniveling type, but I would have much rather stayed at my comfy hotel eaten breakfast and arrived at 2pm

 

Now I'm sitting in a holding area with 1200 people and a water botttle.

 

Thank god for an Iphone and cruise critic

 

later dudes

[RevNeal]

Well the ship was in "Code Red" last trip. I already knew this all week because spinner and a blogger were reporting it.

 

I called HAL in Seattle last week several times and they kept telling me the ship was NOT in code red disputing the bloggers that were actually on the ship.

 

Last night I called to make sure that passengers would be boarding at the regular time. They assured me that it would be normal boarding time.

 

Being that I'm the nervous worry wart type, I phoned them again this morning to ask what time they will board passengers.

 

I was told boarding would start at 11:30

 

well we arrived at 11:30 only to find out they weren't boarding till 2pm

 

I hate to be a whiney sniveling type, but I would have much rather stayed at my comfy hotel eaten breakfast and arrived at 2pm

 

Now I'm sitting in a holding area with 1200 people and a water botttle.

 

Thank god for an Iphone and cruise critic

 

later dudes

 

It's the pits, isn't it? Trust me, I KNOW.

But, hey, you're THERE, so is the ship, and it's not going anywhere without you! :D

 

Still ... it just goes to show that HAL-Seattle doesn't always know what they're talking about.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Have a Happy Holiday Cruise, I look forward to your reports :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Bon Voyage!!

Looking forward to your reports.

We have sailed 2 long cruises on the Amsterdam -- both times Code Red.

Same thing happened to us the last time we sailed on her in 2006 -- we arrived at the pier at 11:15 in San Diego and sat until nearly 2:30 while they cleaned down the ship.

[Cruising-along]

Have a great cruise and thanks for bringing us along! :)

[Spinner2]

We are home and unpacked; left the Amsterdam this morning at about 9:30 am with the last group. The very last group to leave were the "in-transit" passengers which include the famous Dolly; I think most of the in-transits will spend the day together today, according to Dolly, whose table was across from ours for the last three weeks. Because they are super-sanitizing the ship between cruises today even the in-transits had to leave the ship for the day.

 

Co-incidence I'm sure, but this is our second Amsterdam cruise and our second code-red (or whatever it's being called) cruise on the Amsterdam. In our many cruises with HAL, these are our only code-red experiences.

 

It is also probably "luck of the draw" since no one usually knows a majority of the passengers, but this cruise we know or know of lots more ill people than on the previous cruise which was code-red for the entire 15 days. This cruise only dropped into illness-prevention mode the final 4 days but every day we've learned of people who were ill; some of them we knew personally and others sat near us at dinner or we met them during ship activities.

 

Last night we had very, very rough seas; packing was something else as we were tossed around the cabin while trying to fold clothes. There were a bunch of people sea-sick during and after dinner last night to add to the confusion as to who was sick from what.

 

Crew members told us at breakfast that many of the fresh-flower vases on the upper level of the dining room fell over during the rough seas last night so there was that to clean up this morning in addition to all of their other work.

 

We were told by a couple on our deck that because her husband was one of the ill that they couldn't have a later departure because all of the ill folks were told to report early to talk to (she thought) the public health officials although I can't confirm that's exactly right.

 

 

It was still a great cruise; we had a wonderful time and I'll get photos together in the next few days. The ship was beautifully decorated for Christmas when we left this morning and the dining staff was carrying around their Santa hats and some sort of red shirt that they'll start wearing today. The Christmas cruise passengers should have a great time. It will be much nicer if it's a healthy ship of course.

[Copper10-8]

Good to meet you and the Missus, Jay!:) (I love you too Man!) Hope I didn't scare you too much with the driving and that the heart rate went back to normal soon! Thanks a bunch for the laughs;) and the nice gift. Have a great Panama Canal cruise on the A'dam and hope you guys get to enjoy the spa. See ya one day in FLL

[pipedreams62]

Oh my god. I'm embarassed I was so starving. I had sparks flying off my utensils. The Asian chicken was to die for. Lido isn't self serve

(no complaints here, I prefer it that way)

 

I had regular bread pudding and chocolate as well.:)

 

The rooms are ready and it's time to go wipe down the entire cabin.

 

John,no worries about your driving,besides I started on blood pressure medication 3 days ago:)

 

Later dudes

[Krazy Kruizers]

The chocolate bread pudding on the Amsterdam is to die for.

That is the only bread pudding I have had in years!!!

[Travalerie]

Oh my god. I'm embarassed I was so starving. I had sparks flying off my utensils. The Asian chicken was to die for. Lido isn't self serve

(no complaints here, I prefer it that way)

 

I had regular bread pudding and chocolate as well.:)

 

The rooms are ready and it's time to go wipe down the entire cabin.

 

John,no worries about your driving,besides I started on blood pressure medication 3 days ago:)

 

Later dudes

Chocolate bread pudding...mmmmmmmmmmmm....I hope they have that on the Oosterdam in May!

[sail7seas]

Jay.......

 

I have to ask........... Did I miss it somewhere ? Why are you referring to Amsterdam as:

 

 

"The Amsterschwartz"? :confused:

 

Happy you got a delicious lunch and are now well fed. :)

 

Hope you both have a great cruise.

 

[jhannah]

Oh, Ruth will be jealous when she reads of the CHOCOLATE bread pudding!

 

Have a great time!

[RuthC]

Oh, Ruth will be jealous when she reads of the CHOCOLATE bread pudding!

Maybe a little.

 

The first time I ever had bread pudding, it was chocolate. Someone at the table brought back a bowl of brown something, and my eyes opened like a kid at Christmas. I HAD to try it. And so I did. :D

I've been a fan ever since.

[RedmondCruiser]

Have a great cruise. We will all have to deal with humor deprivation until your return. Copper 10-8 must have some real pull. Hope to cruise with both of you some time in the future.

[Boatdrill]

Being that I'm the nervous worry wart type, I phoned them again this morning to ask what time they will board passengers.

I was told boarding would start at 11:30

well we arrived at 11:30 only to find out they weren't boarding till 2pm

 

I hate to be a whiney sniveling type, but I would have much rather stayed at my comfy hotel eaten breakfast and arrived at 2pm

 

Now I'm sitting in a holding area with 1200 people and a water botttle.

 

 

Just to clarify...check in began at approx 11:30 - 11:45, and boarding started earlier than anticipated, at approx 1:30. It was orginally planned for 3:00 pm.

 

There were never 1200 people in the waiting area, which had been set up especially for HAL passengers (normally that room remains empty after debark). Boarding was well under way before that many passengers had checked-in, and there were only 600 chairs in the room.

 

Many early arriving passengers were advised of the delay in boarding while still outside of the terminal (hours before check in started).

 

Otherwise passengers were told of the delay in boarding at check-in, and given the option of going back outside to have lunch (on the nearby Queen Mary, for example) or remain inside in the waiting room. Many opted to go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather.

 

A handy tip: if you are ever sailing from Long Beach, or Los Angeles (San Pedro) or San Diego, please call HAL's San Diego shoreside operations for up to the minute info on check-in/boarding times. It's the San Diego staff who handles HAL ships in those ports. The phone number is listed under World Wide Shore Services in San Diego.

 

I hope the OP enjoys the cruise.

[Himself]

Pipedreams:

I hope you have a great cruise. You are traveling on a fine ship, probably the best ship in the whole "DAM" fleet. You can have my share of the breadpudding and I would say the same thing if I was with you--I detest bread pudding. Have a great cruise and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

[Boatdrill]

Same thing happened to us the last time we sailed on her in 2006 -- we arrived at the pier at 11:15 in San Diego and sat until nearly 2:30 while they cleaned down the ship.

 

Passengers are always welcome to leave the terminal while waiting to board. Actually they're encouraged to go out and come back later if there's a delay....

HAL makes sure there are options available, and often arranges for a shuttle bus for shopping, and restaurants in San Diego.

[Copper10-8]

Passengers are always welcome to leave the terminal while waiting to board. Actually they're encouraged to go out and come back later if there's a delay....

HAL makes sure there are options available, and often arranges for a shuttle bus for shopping, and restaurants in San Diego.

 

Hey, great time to pay a visit to the USS Midway next door, have a bite to eat at Anthony's or at the Elephant & Castle pub and restaurant inside the HI, walk to the area of the Amtrak train station and pick up the trolley! It is what you make of it:)

[solocanadian]

It's the pits, isn't it? Trust me, I KNOW.

But, hey, you're THERE, so is the ship, and it's not going anywhere without you! :D

 

Still ... it just goes to show that HAL-Seattle doesn't always know what they're talking about.

RevNeal: I sooo agree with you that HAL-Seattle doesn't always know what they are talking about!;)