Land & Sea - LIVE (nearly) from Amsterdam and ms Rotterdam 15 day Atlantic Sojourn - October 7th, 2023

[BetsyS.]

Jacqui - How is Ivan? He must have been so happy to see you! 😊

[diandaa]

12 minutes ago, kazu said:

Just trying to figure out where I left off before life and internet failure got in the way and a bit more recovery from delayed flight syndrome LOL.

 

In the meantime, I heard that Aaron @diandaa got a really good picture of the Oasis.  I hope I heard correctly and if I did that he will be kind enough to post it for us.

Aaron is more than happy to share as I usually tease him about how many pictures he takes. We had such a great time in our private oasis. Thanks to Jacqui & Wayne for arranging this wonderful ending to our journey.

[kazu]

2 hours ago, diandaa said:

Aaron is more than happy to share as I usually tease him about how many pictures he takes. We had such a great time in our private oasis. Thanks to Jacqui & Wayne for arranging this wonderful ending to our journey.

 

Thank you Diana 🙂 

 

his pics are fabulous and I remember that lovely one of the Rotterdam.  He caught it at the right light.

 

I only ended up with this one I took at the Oasis.

 

[kazu]

So, since we are on HMC - the Oasis was a hit with everyone I think.

 

Tons of staff there (the ladies were from the Tamarind) to make sure everyone’s wish was fulfilled.

 

 

we were constantly asked what else we would like.  Officers appeared chatting and looking to make sure all was good.

 

There was lots of fresh fruit, shrimp cocktails with yummy fruit salsa at the bottom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nachos with every topping you could want.

 

 

Salads galore to keep us going.

 

Along with that we had corn on the cob, rice, chicken, beef (really good), hamburgs, hotdogs and Mahi Mahi prepped to perfection.

 

And yes, some of us had a taste of the cupcakes.

 

 

Lots of drinks - water, soda, beer, wine (not one I would drink 😉), frosty drinks like Margheritas, Daquiris, etc.

 

Several roll call members enjoyed the floating mats, several were snorkelling and one brave soul or two were in the hot tub.  the loungers were well used and the seating in the Oasis is quite comfy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My one disappointment / change I noticed is that they closed up at 1 PM basically

while the BBQ was going until 1:30 for the others.  But, we were on the first tender going over so I guess it’s 6 of 1, half dozen of the other 😉 

 

Besides, we all had to pack and there isn’t a lot of time to left on the island, anyways.

 

I think I can safely say a good time was held by all 🙂 

[kazu]

Some quick HMC shots from the tender:

 

 

 

 

[kazu]

Here are our key officers on board for the cruise before I forget:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kazu]

Here is the daily program for our last full day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kazu]

And our program for the day before:

 

 

 

 

Note the location for the dance band. - Seaview pool.

 

 

This was really badly advertised.  A lot of people missed it especially with the torrent of rain we had a few hours before.  Instead of posting origami or some other stupid activity on the front, why didn’t they put “Dancing Under the Stars” or something similar.  The seaview pool was cleaned up and dry with tablecloths, candlelight (ok tea lights), etc.

there weren’t a lot of people because of the program and it was a shame.  The band was too loud for such a small group of people, unfortunately.

 

[kazu]

Of course on the night before the last sea day, someone made a mistake and left the lido pool roof open and some animals invaded (and I don’t mean the peregrine falcons nor the little birds that had been with us on the cruise).

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry about the upside down pic.  Can’t fix it 😡 

I didn’t take lot of pics as I thought that other towel decorations were superior (like the Oosterdam last year).

[kazu]

But never fear, I didn’t suffer from the towel animal display.

 

About 3/4 through the cruise, I started getting towel animals every night in my cabin.

 

I have no idea if it is because one of my stewards was from the Prinsendam and we chatted about that or if they just felt sorry for this little old lady and her teddy bear 😉 

 

here’s a couple of them

 

 

 

Now a sideways pic?  WTH?  What’s up with this CC?  They were perfect in my photos.  Oh well.

 

 

[mawvkysc]

Are you using an iPhone to take your pictures? When I have trouble posting photos it’s usually because they were taken in live mode. If I turn off live mode it usually fixes the upside down/ sideways problem. 

[ORTravelGal]

Thank you so much for this thread! My mom & I are booked on Rotterdam for the TA next April when she makes her return to Rotterdam for King’s Day. I learned so much from the group’s posts and am eagerly counting down the days until we are onboard. 
 

@kazu Jacqui, I think we all need you on each of our trips. It is evident you put so much effort into gathering info & planning events. It’s clear your efforts make the trip more enjoyable for everyone & I hope the HAL team appreciates you as well. 

[kazu]

16 hours ago, mawvkysc said:

Are you using an iPhone to take your pictures? When I have trouble posting photos it’s usually because they were taken in live mode. If I turn off live mode it usually fixes the upside down/ sideways problem. 

 

I am indeed using my IPhone.  Thanks on that tip.  They are fine in my photo gallery.  I will check to see if they were Live Photos.  That’s a great suggestion and much appreciated.

[kazu]

17 minutes ago, ORTravelGal said:

Thank you so much for this thread! My mom & I are booked on Rotterdam for the TA next April when she makes her return to Rotterdam for King’s Day. I learned so much from the group’s posts and am eagerly counting down the days until we are onboard. 
 

@kazu Jacqui, I think we all need you on each of our trips. It is evident you put so much effort into gathering info & planning events. It’s clear your efforts make the trip more enjoyable for everyone & I hope the HAL team appreciates you as well. 

 

Oh arriving in Rotterdam in King’s Day would be a blast!  I should look at that sailing LOL.

 

There’s more to come on the LIVE thread.  I’ve been doing catch up on house maintenance (like finding a new snow plow person for the winter) today so hopefully tonight I can get some more done.  It’s Ivan time right now (my dog) - fetch and walk 😉 

thank you for your kind words.  I really enjoy roll calls and we had a fantastic one.  Even on board there was always someone willing to help someone else when they needed something.  A really great group and a joy ❤️ 

[kazu]

I guess i will work a bit backwards.

 

On our last night, three of us went to Sel de Mer.  I won’t repeat the menu but will share some food porn without repeating previous ones.

 

Some of us got the Seafood platter.

 

It had a langostino hanging down from it.

 

 

It was opened up for us for uso of course.  A tad too mushy to suit us but it made a great presentation.

 

 

There is very little meat on it once it is opened.

 

The rest of the seafood was delicious of course.

 

 

 

 

And dessert there is always yummy.

 

 

 

[kazu]

our second last night was our last night in Club Orange.

 

Here is the menu for the MDR (and CO) 

 

 

 

 

I’m bypassing food shown.  But here is the Wiener schnitzel:

 

 

It was absolutely huge and good.   I don’t get how people can say portions are small.  None of us could finish our plates.  

 

Two of us had the sweet and sour shrimp.  I substituted some of the rice for other veggies on mine.

 

 

It also was good.  This ship can cook fish 👍 

 

And now the piece de resistance….the cheese tray for dessert for me.  

With crackers - yes I brought some 😉 

 

 

Had to post this for @VMax1700 and other cracker aficionados.

[kazu]

Here are the Lido menus for the same day:

 

 

 

 

[kazu]

Some miscellaneous food porn:

 

A breakfast I nearly forgot to have for the entire 15 days.  I really enjoy it and asked them for a smaller portion 

 

 

 

One of our chocolates from the chocolate evening.  Chocolate covered cheerios - seriously?  The chocolate extravaganza was pretty simplistic compared to others I have seen.

 

 

 

And our Gala night chocolates.  I don’t recommend eating them.  I might be in the minority but I know some others agreed with me.

 

[VMax1700]

11 minutes ago, kazu said:

Had to post this for @VMax1700 and other cracker aficionados

Thank you!  I'm glad that I'm not the only one who is crackers. 😉

[kazu]

And now we come to the vent - I am pretty sure @EVNKEEL has been watching for this on my thread 😉 

 

I am really glad Tina’s PG lunch worked out well.  Not sure if it has anything to do with me telling the manager it was the worst PG Grill I had seen in 10 years 😉 and I meant every word of it.

 

You will recall at dinner, the service was lacklustre - not even asking us how our meal was nor offering tea or coffee, etc.

 

Well lunch was just as bad if not worse.

 

Appetizers were ok.  Crab crakes were bigger and I think that made them just too mushy and not cooked well.  Two of us had them and will probably avoid them in the future.

 

 

The other appetizer was decent though.

 

 

Then we got to my main.  The beef with onion thing which is usually good.

 

The bun was a) not sourdough and b) so hard I couldn’t cut through it.

 

 

So I said, fine, I’ll have an open faced sandwich and took the top off and tried to cut through the meat and just the bottom bun.  Nope.  I worked so hard my elbow hurt and it was going to cut it was so hard.  I think a machete should have been provided.

 

 

So I said ok - I’ll just eat the meat.  OMG - the onions were burned and the meat and sauce was ice cold.  In all this time our waiter never came to inquire how our meal was.  So my meal sat there staring at me (I don’t eat food I don’t like).

Finally since no one was coming, I moved my plate to the empty seat beside me.

 

When the waiter arrived to bring dessert, I expressed my disappointment and then the manager came (I actually went looking for him earlier to no avail).  He offered us another free lunch.  I looked at my dining partners and said we’re already at 2 strikes - I don’t think so.

 

dessert was good though.

 

 

 

 

 

Specialties all had good food except for the PG.  It seemed to be very,, very inconsistent.  A shame as lunch on a sea day was always nice in the past.

 

my friends cancelled their remaining PG reservations.

[kazu]

On 10/24/2023 at 3:33 PM, BetsyS. said:

Jacqui - How is Ivan? He must have been so happy to see you! 😊

 

Ivan is fine.  I am not sure if he wanted to leave the two ladies who had been spoiling him rotten or not.  LOL.  He’s a real ladies man.  One was giving him plenty of loving care at home and the other walking him and fussing over him.  

 

And he’s put on weight ‘sigh’.  I have to fix that.  😉 

 

he was well cared for, believe me.

[kazu]

I wanted to treat friends to the Tamarind since they were not Sel de Mer Fans, so 5 of us went with 3 of us using our HIA.

 

 

 

 

 

We started out with a drink.  I enjoyed mine:

 

[BetsyS.]

Jacqui - Thanks for the update on Ivan. 😊  Thanks also for your very thorough reports and all the great pictures of scenery, the Oasis and food.

         I hope you found a good person to do snow removal. I know how important that is since I live in Maine.

 

[kazu]

Some of the Tamarind food - I think we all agreed it was very good 😃 

 

 

Ok - I took the live off this pic and is STILL upside down.  Scratching my head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kazu]

Tamarind food continued.

 

In the interest of Cruise Critic research I ordered the surcharge lobster.  

 

 

Of course they will remove it from the shell.

 

 

 

 

Here is the lobster out of the shell.  Really different.  yes it’s real lobster - it is nearly deep fried but not ruined.  Very rich, different and delicious.

 

 

sides:

 

 

 

 

 

Desserts: