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LAFFNVEGAS Says Aloha LIVE from the MS Oosterdam

LAFFNVEGAS

By LAFFNVEGAS,
in Holland America Line

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Copper10-8 "Live from...." Rare

Copper10-8

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Well hello there, stranger.

 

A little birdie whispered in my ear that Lisa and Tom were live from the O and many old HAL Pals are along for the ride.

 

Let's make Tiny Bubble scat out of this detour and get back to Live from the O, with our hosts, Lisa and Tom.

 

Really good to see ya Hammy!:)

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mamaofami

mamaofami

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Sunday October 23, 2011

 

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Something tells me you may not get a lot of reports till we get to Hawaii but one big bit of news I wanted to tell you was..........No More mast Chef's Dinner :) HAL is working on something new but till they announce that they have removed the Master Chef's dinner from all sailings. I thought that was amazing good news. Can you tell I was not a fan of it.

 

That is indeed good news. I'm not a fan of that either.

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LAFFNVEGAS "Live from...." Rare

LAFFNVEGAS

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Tuesday October 25, 2011

Aloha from the Oosterdam on another absolutely amazingly wonderful Sea Day. This morning when we went out to our Verandah I could feel the warmth yet not too hot. It just started to have the feel of Hawaii. They are telling us we should have weather like this for all of our sea days even on the return.

I think I last left off when I was going to get showered and dressed for the day, we headed down to the Vista Dining Room at 10 minutes before 11 for the Mariner Lunch. Off course the lines had started to form. We were one of the few that actually were wearing our Medallions. I guess old habits are hard to break. We Saw the Hotel Manager at the entrance to the dining room and he says, "Where were you? We were expecting you at the the reception." I told her we did not get the Invite. He was truly apologetic then said you are to be seated in the Reserved area and he had us seated next to him at one of the hosted tables. Sher also ended up going to the Pre -lunch reception and bringing her husband Bob and then sat at our table. It was nice and of course we received our new tiles and are so much thicker than the past tiles. There are quite a few Mariner on this sailing, they said there were 1452 Mariners. There were several Ladies wearing their White Ribboned Platinum Medallions. Which is by goal :) But for right now I just need to work on getting the 300 day medallion of which we still have just a liettle over 100 days to get.

After the lunch Tom and I came back to the cabin for a while to enjoy that amazing verandah. I have to say I think we are enjoy ing this aft verandah more than we usually do. About two I got on my tennis shoes and headed down to Sher's cabin to grab her so we could go do our walk. Today we sped the walk up quite a bit. After two rounds (tomorrow we are going to for three) Sher decided to head up to the Exploratin Cafe and I decided to do some Window Shopping in the shops. There are a couple of things I have my eye on ;) Then I headed up to also get a Frozen Grande Caromello. I saw that the the Crow's Nest was packed with people playing Trivia. So I stood and watched for a while I saw one of our Roll Call member Larry sitting and watching so started talking to him. They were coming close to an end and I saw who I was pretty sure was Cruisenetta. We had not had the chance to meet so I went over and and said Hi. Then when her Trivia ended she brought me down to her cabin so I could see her newest ship in the making the Boodam. Let me say this is one big ship she is building and it is coming along nicely.

After that I headed up to our cabin to find Tom reading out on the Verandah so I joined him. Dinner is in about 30 minutes and of course we have had the time to review the menu and I have to say there is just nothing on the menu that sounds that good. In all of our HAL cruises I have never ordered of the Available Daily section with the exception of the occaisional French Onion Soup but I think to night that will change. I think I may be ordering the Caesar Salad and the Salmon. Then dessert will probably be the Orange Sorbet. But then I had the Braised Short Ribs for lunch which is a bit on the heavy side so that could be why I am not that hungry.

Of course Internet is down so will not bother to post now and will write more later.

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Aloha and Good Evening from Evening four and the completion of our third Sea Day. Only once before have I had three sea days in a row and that was when we sailed on the Statendam for the Panama Canal and it was during the start of the Swine Flu and after we left Acapolco they had announced we would not be stopping in Cabo so it was three Sea Days back into San Diego. We had really enjoyed that and this being 4 going and technically 5 coming home is really good. The crew I feel sorry for most really do not get any time off like they would if we had a port day especially those in the Shops.

I am not sure why but cruising just wears me out, you would think with all this rest we would be able to go out and enjoy the night life. After dinner we do some walking around the ship (although Tom needs to be careful because his knee is not any better) but we just would rather head back to the cabin and relax and read and maybe sit out on the verandah. I am thinking once Joel Mason and his wife Bonnie get on board the ship in Honolulu we will be out enjoying the entertainment quite a bit more :)

Tonight I kept it light and as I mentioned before I just had the Ceasar's salad and yes I had the anchovies with it. Then I had the salmon with the wasabi mashed potatoes, WOW the potatoes had some kick to them ;) Tom also had the Ceasar Salad minus the anchovies and had the Top Sirloin. Now Sher and Bob checked out a few of the items on the menu. Bob had the Chilled Blueberry Soup and the Flank Steak with Roasted Shallot Vinaigrette and Sher had the Lamb Osso Bucco then we all had the Cappuccino Bomb except Tom who had the Cherries Jubilee Sundae.

Well tomorrow night will be our 2nd Formal Night, I know many of you like the Formal nights and there was a time I loved them too but I have to say that for a cruise like this 2 would have been plenty, one at the beginning and one at the end. It will be interesting to see what is on the menu tomorrow.

I keep checking the internet as I write this and I keep seeing we have no connection, so far it has appeared that in the morning has been the best time to attempt to post. So I guess I will go back to reading.

Signing off from the Beautiful and Elegant MS Oosterdam.

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Wednesday Ocotober 26th, 2011

Aloha and Good morning, it's 7:40 ship time but my body is still on Pacific time. I had another great night sleep. I actually think the seas have been quite calm but I am sure others would disagree. I thought this morning I would get up early and head down to the Pinnacle for breakfast before I met Sher in the Thermal Suite at 9:30.

I see I have Wifi this morning so I am going to get this posted.

BTW it is another amazing beautiful day, the morning temps are just perfect out on the verandah, I am sure we will be out there a lot today.

Also Sail you asked about going to the Pinnacle, I have only stopped by once other than the first night for the Suite Cocktail party, most of not stopping in is logistics, it is just not close being in the aft on deck 8.

Also Hammy it is so good to see you:D And of course everyone else;) By the way Grampy I saw your signtures first when I looked at the back of the banner.

Signing off from the Beauitiful and Elegant MS Oosterdam.

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sail7seas

sail7seas

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Hi Lisa,

 

Great reports...... very fun reading. :)

 

Did you say "Cappuccino Bomb"? We haven't seen that on the menu in ages and that is one dessert I really enjoy. It's soooo good. :)

 

Thanks for taking time from your cruise to let us sail along with you.

 

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Grampy

Grampy

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Hi Lisa and Tom, we love the updates.:) I'm so glad you have beautiful weather to enjoy on your sea days.

 

We can't wait to sign the banner again. We also signed the first one. That was such a great idea that all of you came up with to do the wave and have a banner to sign. What a fun way to start a cruise and meet friends from Cruise Critic right away.

 

When Joel gets on board will you ask him if he is staying on for a few weeks? Maybe until December tenth would be great. He is one of the best entertainers that we have seen on a ship.:)

 

Keep having fun and don't worry about us back here. This is almost like there. No it isn't we want to be there too.:p

 

Mike and Pat

 

I hope you keep posting Hammy:)

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LAFFNVEGAS "Live from...." Rare

LAFFNVEGAS

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Aloha and Good Afternnon from what is now a rainy late afternoon in the Pacific.

We had a nice breakfast in the Pinnacle this morning ran into CCmember Slomotion aka Harry and Lois ;)

After breakfast headed to the Thermal Suite where I met up with Sher and also starting to get to know others that we know there. We have been there every morning with the couple that had also been on the Nieuw Amsterdam with us in March. As I had figured each day there were less people using the Thermal Suite. I ended up staying till Noon and many times I was the only one in there. Came back to the cabin and Tom and I headed up to the Lido for Lunch, it too was not at all crowded. I was good I had a small Ceasar Salad with Anchovies and couple slices of cheese and a tiny cup of sugar free custard with fruit.

I have some BIG news that might not be that a big of deal to many but.......Holland America now serves Dr. Pepper and Diet Dr. Pepper :) I am not a huge soda drinker but once in a while a crave a soda and the only soda I drink is a Diet Dr. Pepper. It tasted sooo good at lunch today.

After lunch the weather was still really nice so I enjoyed a couple of hours out on the verandah reading with Tom. I had called Sher but she was napping so about 3 I decided I was going to take my walk. Even though the temps had dropped and we were on the edge of some rain I still got in 3 full laps today.

As I mentioned before tonight is our 2nd Formal night, I think when they first did up the menus they were thinking it would be Thursday like it nomrally is for the Oosterdam because on the bottom of the menu in tiny print it says Hawaii day 6, yesterday's said Hawaii Day 4 lol I am glad it is not day 6. but it will be here tomorrow. I can see it is still lightly raining but the sun is comingout so there could be one of those nice Hawaii Rainbows but probably on the other side of the ship. The menu for tonight looks interesting and not for sure what I will have I just wihs the dessert menu looked more interesting. But I am looking forward to tomorrow night when we go to Le Cirque. That Le Cirque Creme Brulee has been calling me all week.

I think I might log into CC for a couple of minutes because it appears I have a strong signal.

Carol that is great news;)

Signing off from the Beautiful and Elegant MS Oosterdam.

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socmft

socmft

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Lisa -- we've never met but I feel I know you from your WONDERFUL posts. Love reading them. Not that I want your cruise to end, but we're on the next Hawaii cruise (November) and are so excited!!! Thanks, so much, for your posts. Continue having a great trip, and thanks, again.

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LAFFNVEGAS "Live from...." Rare

LAFFNVEGAS

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Wednesday October 26th, 2011

Aloha and Good Evening from the MS Oosterdam as we are nearing the Big Island of Hawaii. We should be arriving at about 7 am where the pilot when come on board and be docked and ready to start disembarking close to 8 am. I am really looking forward to returning to Hawaii especially the Big Island tomorrow just wish it was Kailua-Kona but Hilo will be nice too. The plan for tomorrow is that Sher has rented a car and we will be tagging along the plan is to first go get the rental car first then go to the Farmer's Market, then make our way to the Volcano National Park, most likely have lunch at the Lodge if they still do that, then who know what else we will go see. We do know we have to be back on board the ship at 4:30. Then I believe we have 6:30 reservations for Le Cirque I looked at the menu this morning and was a bit dissappointed i was looking forward to the Sea Bass but instead it appears they have Blacken Seared Alaskan Cod :(

Speaking of food tonight was of course Formal night number 2 and I was actually surprised how many more men were in a tux and far more ladies dressed up. I am sorry I do not get it why would you dress up more on the 2nd Formal night than you would on the Captain's Welcome Aboard Formal night? But it always seems there are far more dressed up the 2nd night. Please this does not need to be aabout Formal nights I am just making an observation. Well tonight Sher, Bob and Tom all had the Land and Sea which was a very small Filet Mignon and Jumbo Prawns but the definition of Jumbo is a bit misleading ;) Tom already knew that Jumbo actually meant small so he ordered two extra Prawns. I was the odd one tonight and ordered Orecchiette with Crab. The description is Tossed with onion, garlic, tomato, white wine, extra virgin olive oil crisp pancetta and arugula. It was tasty but those shell pastas are on the heavy side so I could really only eat half of it. Tom had his normal Caesar Salad while I had the Crab Tower with Avacado Salsa and the best part of the whole night was he Cream of Five Onion Soup. Which was almost as good as the Five Onion Soup they have for lunch in the Pinnacle.

Tonight's Show is Garage Band, last time we saw this one of the dancers on the Nieuw Amsterdam fell into the pit and could not dance the rest of the week. But since we have seen this before along with all the other cast shows so far we have decided to skip it. We actually were going to head up to the Crow's Nest to listen to Chris the Solo Guitarist but by the time we walked out of the dining room we all kind of agreed we would rather call it a night so that we could get up early tomorrow morning. You are probably thinking we are a much of party duds but some times it just plain feels good to relax in your cabin in your P.Js reading a good book. Of course part of the problem is I am still on pacific time and it is actually my bed time :)

Well I think I will sign off because I see the internet is back up sooooo.....

Signing off from the Beautiful and Elegant MS Oosterdam

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ALOHAA!!!! We have almost arrived in Hilo and have come back home to the Big Island.

As you can tell, No of course I was not able to post last night the Internet kept going down so I gave up I had already gone thru 10 minutes of wasted time. HAl is really all about revenue on board the ship what they need to do is invest in better equipment to be able to log on to the internet so people would spend more money. If I could have gotten on last night and several other nights chances are I would have been on my 2nd Internet package by now. I never once had this problem with Princess, NCL or Celebrity but the last three time now on HAL it has been the same thing no matter what area of the ship we are. OK enough rant.

Now do not be too shocked but Tom and I ordered Breakfast Room Service. ;) We so seldom ever do that because it seemed something was always missing or it was cold so we never bothered but we ordered it to arrive between 6:30 and 7:00 and right smack at 6:30 there was a knock on our door. I had set the wake up call for 5:45 so we were already up showered and dressed. We just finished breakfast and there was an absolutely beautiful Sunrise. I cannot explain the wave of good emotions that went thru me as we could see the Big Island. As much as we love the ships we also love Hawaii especially the Big Island. I had tears in my eyes and Tom says we are coming home. It looks like it will be a beautiful day. Could even be a great day to see the top of Kilauea. Of course there is clouds covering the top this morning as normal but they look like they could easily clear. The sun is shining and the temps are perfect.

Today will certainly be a full day and topping it off with going to Le Cirque this evening.

Signing off from the Beautiful MS Oosterdam as we arrive in Hilo with Tug Boats Spraying Water for the Oosterdam's Inaugural arrival to the islands.

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Bearnaise

Bearnaise

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Then I believe we have 6:30 reservations for Le Cirque I looked at the menu this morning and was a bit dissappointed i was looking forward to the Sea Bass but instead it appears they have Blacken Seared Alaskan Cod :(

Thanks for clearing up whether the O has the new Le Cirque menu. We were also looking forward to trying the sea bass after all we'd heard, but the cod has gotten stellar reviews as well. I look forward to your dinner report (and all the rest as well, since we board her a month from yesterday).

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MAHLO

MAHLO

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We are so enjoying your posts and looking forward to our turn on the Oosterdam on Nov.12th,first time for Hawaii and hope it all that everyone says it is. Thanks for the posts keep up the good work.(work it seems to be, with internet problems):):)

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