Lazy Waltz to Spain Onboard the Oosterdam April 5-19th

[Ready2go11]

Calling this the lazy waltz (although my dancing ability is akin to Elaine on Seinfeld) to recap this 14 day journey to Spain onboard the Oosterdam as I can’t promise to post every day consistently, especially as we get to Spain and have port days EVERYDAY for almost a week.  But I will do my best to keep up.  Unfortunately we will not be continuing on to Italy and Greece with the ship after Barcelona. The extra days in Barcelona and to get home to the East Coast are stretching how long I can be away from the office on top of the 14 night cruise.

 

As background, this is my second TA after a Rotterdam trip last October.  My sister and I chose this cruise because it was going to Spain where we had never been before, and because we LOVED the slow life of continuous at sea days of a TA.  We are a little apprehensive about losing hours at the beginning and have many sea days in a row for the last week of the trip.  We liked the west bound trip because we lost hours all at once (flying to Amsterdam) and then gradually got them back as we reached Florida and had the last week of the trip to recover after busy consecutive port days; thinking that was a more relaxing way to end the cruise.  However, since you can’t do a westbound in April, this was our first choice of sailing.

My sister frequently travels with me as her husband does not have sufficient vacation to do these longer trips and we share a similar travel style and interests.

 

I am HAL loyal but will share the good and disappointing, recognizing that the disappointing are first world problems and through my personal filter.  Nothing can be perfect and although it may sound like complaining at times, it is a travel recap of what we experienced.  No matter the inconveniences, there is nothing better than being on a HAL cruise.  I will apologize in advance for any typos and the length of reports.  I know when I am looking forward to a trip, I want to soak up everything about the experience I may soon be having so I am erring on the side of detail.

In any case I will endeavor to share my thoughts and experiences of on board life, ports, etc. Since there was a healthy CC roll call, I welcome others on board to chime in on any thoughts they have as well.

 

We started this journey by doing the unthinkable and traveling to Florida on the day the cruise was departing.  Decided the risk was worth it since I am not a great fan of the Ft. Lauderdale hotels near the airport or Port Everglades and since it was April, past snow weather (at least for Baltimore) and we had a 6:20am flight, there would still be time for delays or alternate flights if ours had an issue.

 

Not only did everything go as planned, but I had the middle seat next to me empty on the nearly full flight!  A good start.

[mawvkysc]

Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us. Bon Voyage! My first TA and first HAL cruise is May 11 on Zuiderdam so I’m especially appreciative of this. 

[Ready2go11]

Friday April 6^th

Took an UBER from FLL to the port.  Took longer than usual since our driver was waiting for us at departures upstairs rather than coming to the rideshare island on the arrivals level.  That has never happened before.  We could see in the app he was very near us but could not figure out where he was until he asked what level we were on.  Eventually he circled around and picked us up.    

 

It was around 10:45 when we arrived at the port and although there were others arriving it was not super busy.  We dropped off luggage and breezed through the priority line and upstairs where we only had to wait about 10 minutes before boarding.  They told you to sit anywhere so we chose a row near the back.  They announced they were boarding by row and were amused by several people getting up and moving to a row closer to the front so they could get on sooner.  It moved quickly and after boarding on deck 2 mid-ship they funneled everyone to Lido as the rooms were not open available yet.

 

The last four cruises have been on Pinnacle class ships, so the smaller Lido was an adjustment.  Still plenty of choices available but I did miss NY Pizza. We opted for Dive In and salads.  I have been looking forward to a Dive In dog since the last cruise in January on the NS.  I do not as a rule like hot dogs but something about the juicy hot dog and frizzled onions does it for me.  First disappointment though, the hot dogs were  regulation size (not oversized Nathan’s they have always been) and were very chewy.  They were out of a number of things at the bar and we realized moving from a longer cruise around South America to this longer TA required a significant restocking and we later found out a significant change in crew.  I think much of the first day rockiness I will describe was due to these factors.  We did not leave port until after 7:30pm, and the Captain stated this was because of significant fueling and restocking necessary.  From our balcony we watched the crane, backhoes and other equipment loading literally tons of boxes, bags, cases of food, wine, other beverages and supplies like carpet and steward carts.

 

Since we had lunch before our rooms were ready and we could pick up our key cards, we were able to order drinks at the bar by just giving our room number.  The Mai Tai and Bahama Mama we had were fresh made and cool and delicious.  Perfect drinks on a sunny Florida day with temps in the upper 70s and very low humidity.

 

One of my first stops was to the Ocean Bar when it opened so I could see if they still had the Holland America Buffalo Trace special bourbon.  It was featured on the bar menu and the waitress indicated yes, they had that.  Very excited and tried it on the rocks.  It was good but did not taste any different, and you know why?  Turns out it was regular old Buffalo trace.  We found out by going to the Ocean Bar itself and asking to see the bottle so I could take a photo.  The bartender said they ran out of that awhile ago.  Note to HAL if you are going to have a special blend, order more than one barrel and make sure on board bar staff know what it is.  Maybe also take it off the menu.

 

I apologize but I did not take a photo of the first night dining room menu but am sharing the daily program.  Incidentally, the menu statement and choices on Friday and based on Saturdays preview, referencing South America and the Caribbean so we have not changed over to Europe yet even though that is where the ship is headed.

 

We opted for late fixed dining at 7:30pm, something we had not done since that was the only choice.  I usually prefer not to eat larger meals that late but think we will be staying up later than normal since we will be losing time and it will seem earlier to us.

 

We found the Oosterdam is in good shape although older and smaller.  The décor is darker than the newer ships and we decided after walking around it seemed like a “club” atmosphere with a lot of wood paneling.  Still it was easy to get around and clean.  Our last time on the Oosterdam was in 2017 when 9 of our family took an Alaskan cruise and my parents renewed their wedding vowels to celebrate their 50^th anniversary.  The library was well stocked and we found fresh flowers are all around.

 

As noted, there were many hiccups on this first day.  I received the wrong starter and wrong wine at dinner.  The waiter was hurried noting everyone came in and sat down at once, which I though was how fixed dining worked????  He did not write anything down, leading to the issues, I think.  However my shrimp cocktail starter was tasty, although with the grapefruit and orange segments that came with it, I got a sectioned lemon mixed in.  I did not notice the lighter color and chewed it before I realized what it was.  That was a sour surprise!

 

Our mains of jerk pork tenderloin and baked hake were tasty and well presented.  Dessert was peach crisp (little peach and a lot of crisp that was under baked) and a hot fudge sundae.  I like their hot chocolate sauce but was missing my wafer cookie : ).

 

After some casino time where I made a donation despite them not having the piggy bank machines I have loved on other ships.  Surprised it was 10:30pm and I was still very awake despite getting up at 3:50am we headed back to the room and I was gently rocked to sleep by the motion of the ocean.

 

Side note: when we first boarded the Internet was out, with an error comment noting it was being worked on.  The TV stateroom once we got to our rooms did not have the safety video playing yet either.  That was fixed fairly quickly though and we were able to watch our safety video before checking in at the Muster Station. After the video finished, we checked out the movie selection, pleased it has new pictures and older favorites.  We saved many to the watch list after going through more than a hundred movies and started watching one before dinner.  These details are important because after dinner and some casino time, we got back to our cabin to a nasty gram stating we had either not watched the safety video or checked in at our muster station.  That led to much indignation and two comments to the let us know chat on the Navigator app.  The next morning my sister received a note apologizing stating someone would follow up with her.  My chat comment was focused on the fact that they reset our safety video so we had to watch it again, and it wiped out all the saved movies on the watchlist.

[Ready2go11]

sad Dive in Dog with too much mustard and relish

Mystery fruit- does anyone know what this is?

The promise of a special bourbon, that wasn't

Ship Officers

Adorable pool penguins

 

Edited April 6 by Ready2go11

[oakridger]

12 minutes ago, Ready2go11 said:

They were out of a number of things at the bar and we realized moving from a longer cruise around South America to this longer TA required a significant restocking and we later found out a significant change in crew.

 

I will be on the Zuiderdam transatlantic with @mawvkysc leaving Ft. Lauderdale right after the World Cruise ends on May 11th.  I was wondering about probable delays due to the huge turnover of luggage, staff changes and restocking of provisions.  I imagine we will have the same exact issues that you are having on the Oosterdam so will pack some extra patience for the first day or two.  Thank you so much for reporting on your experiences on the way to Spain!  So much more fun than flying!

 

~Nancy

[colbe]

12 minutes ago, Ready2go11 said:

Mystery fruit- does anyone know what this is?

It looks like a Pepino melon.

[crystalspin]

28 minutes ago, Ready2go11 said:

Ship Officers

I believe I have sailed with your captain, although he looks just as young as 9 years ago on the Nieuw Amsterdam!

 

ETA: We hope to sail on the O'dam next October on a B2B2B. Happy to experience the ship vicariously with you! Where on the ship is your cabin? we are booked on the Observation Deck...

Edited April 6 by crystalspin

[*Miss G*]

1 hour ago, Ready2go11 said:

Mystery fruit- does anyone know what this is?

 

Those are gooseberries!  Although @colbe could be right.  Were they the size of grapes or larger?

 

You were very brave to arrive on the day of the cruise.  Especially on a TA!  We did that.  Once.  First and last flight out of the day as the rest of the flights were cancelled due to weather.  

 

One time our flight was delayed and there was a family sitting behind us whose cruise was leaving that day.  At 4:00pm we had just landed and were taxiing to our gate.  I doubt they made it but I hope they did.  We got to our hotel and the bellhop asked if we had missed our cruise.  He said they’d had a lot of walk-ins that day (from missed cruises) and that it happens a lot.

 

Anyway, thanks for the trip report and I hope you have a wonderful time!

 

Oh!  The safety video thing happened to us too!  Watched the whole thing before checking in at our muster station.  When we got back to the room we had to watch it all over again!  I’m guessing they ran into a glitch when they switched from shore power to ship power and it reset something.

 

Edited April 6 by *Miss G*

[Ready2go11]

 

1 hour ago, colbe said:

It looks like a Pepino melon.

That’s it!  For some reason we did not think until today to pick one up to try and now too late. Maybe next time. 
 

thanks for the info 

[Ready2go11]

1 hour ago, crystalspin said:

 

ETA: We hope to sail on the O'dam next October on a B2B2B. Happy to experience the ship vicariously with you! Where on the ship is your cabin? we are booked on the Observation Deck...

We are deck 7 towards the back. Very quiet. 

[kazu]

Appears I am a tad late to bid you Bon Voyage Tracey & Christine but I do hope you enjoy your time on board the Oosterdam for the transatlantic.  Looking forward to following along with you and enjoying your experiences on land and sea. 🙂 

 

We had a great TA on the Oosterdam in the Fall of 2022 - so much so that some of that roll call are joining us on the TA portion this fall.  I hope your experience is just as good 🙂 

[Ready2go11]

Despite the full ship, it has not felt crowded at any event and even breakfast at the Lido this morning at 8:30am it was easy to find a table.  This crowd is heavily weighted towards Floridians and I would guess the average age to be around 70.  It is a jovial crowd and so far not averse to taking full advantage of their HIA drink package.

 

We attended the Mariner Reception at 11am in the Billboard lounge.  The drinks (sparking wine, mimosa, red and white wine and Bloody Marys) were flowing and they served some small canapes of shrimp, cheese and jars of nuts.  The officers welcomed everyone in to the event, and then mingled throughout the room.  It was one of the nicest we have attended in many years.

 

The invite stated it was for 3*, 4* and 5* guests but was not overly crowded.  We later found out they planned for three receptions, a good choice to keep guests comfortable and not too crowded.

 

We have the HIA Bonus which comes with premium wifi.  It has been slow at times, likely owing to the fact that we are currently s tiny dot in the vast Atlantic.  I was able to get through my work firewall and connect to the VPN, which I have not been able to do using the surf wifi plan for years.  There is an option to upgrade to stream for around $16.50 per day.  Interestingly, there is an option to upgrade to the premium package I already have for $140 for the 2 weeks. 

We attended the first coffee talk with C&TD Karlijn featuring Entertainment Director Megan.  It was VERY informative.  I will share info in bullet points below so it doesn’t all run together in one paragraph.

 

·        Megan noted she has a young child (16 month old Alfie) and her mother travels with her and cares for Alfie when she is working.  She gave great credit to HAL for allowing this; allowing her to keep a job she loves while still being a Mom.

 

·        There are 6-8 children on board.  Spring break is about over and there are rarely children on board longer cruises  We have seen a few teens or pre-teens around. 

 

·        The entertainment staff numbers around 60 people on board including headline performers, musicians, dancers, hosts, etc.

 

·        Megan emphasized more than once that one of her jobs is to look out for the welfare of her team, since they spend months at sea on contract far away from their families.  I appreciated that she made a point of this, reminding everyone of the effort and sacrifice the crew make for our benefit. 

 

·        Megan noted that she does not have input into the entertainers hired, HAL does that and then she plans with what she is scheduled for.

 

·        In response to a question, Megan noted that there are classical music performances planned.  The musicians are called Chordial Chamber Trio and will have 2 matinee and 2 night show performances, all in the world stage. Many were happy to hear that as they have missed Lincoln Center Stage performers.

 

·        The guest count is 1944 and we knew it was almost sold out on this first leg to Barcelona.

 

·        A guest asked if they modify the daily program based on guest requests or responses to popular activities like card games groups gather to play.  Karlijn responded that a lot of thought goes into planning the schedule to include staffing, locations and guest interest, so basically no was the response in a nice way.  She also noted that HAL has guidelines for acceptable activities and anything they plan must fall within those guidelines.

 

·        They both noted that they and the entertainment staff work up to 11 hours a day with breaks.  Sea days are obviously more work than port days since more activities are planned. In what downtime they have, they are working on the schedule for the next voyage.

 

·        Megan noted there were many guests new to Holland and cruising on this cruise.  That aligns with the Roll Call comments and questions and in talking to other guests on board.

 

·        Megan ended by saying that no one in the world can seem to get along these days, but on the ship with so many personalities and nationalities, the crew is a family and works together to create a great experience for the guests and they take pride in that.

 

We went to the Pinnacle for lunch.  This was a bonus because they told us the Pinnacle was only open for lunch on April 9^th and 11^th, but we saw it was open on the 7^th in the app and booked that way. I have a favorite meal I look forward to each time- carpaccio, Pinnacle burger and a shared chocolate brownie dessert.  This was good but not great.  We did have great service from Ardian, who remembered us form the day before.  He brought my extra aioli with the carpaccio, and scalloped potatoes in place of the fries.  The burger was ordered medium rare and was done (no pink) and it was missing the bacon jam.  The brownie is usually dense and comes with coffee ice cream.  Instead it was cakelike and had vanilla ice cream.  These are minor details, but since I have certain expectations based on the menu description and prior experiences, these little things made it just “good.”  My sister had the Jidori chicken with substituted sides.  The chicken was inedible salty so she enjoyed her substituted sides (we often will substitute sides we like that we know they have since they come with other menu items.  When the manager stopped by to ask how things were, and noticed she had not eaten it, he offered her another choice and was very gracious.  Things will inevitably not go as planned, but how it is handled is everything, and the manager addressed it very well.

 

Perhaps because they did not highlight that Pinnacle was open for lunch and you could only stumble upon it in the app, we were 2 of only about 10 guests there. The service was

As we were leaving the Pinnacle, we had a chance to correct several specially dining errors.  I prebooked our HIA dinners, but HAL also added the included dinners as second time, one set for that evening.  Since we had already booked, we had to cancel those.  They also changed the date of one of our bookings and we were able to get that back and added another new mystery booking at the Pinnacle for dinner.  All was sorted quickly, but I encourage everyone to check your itinerary after getting on to verify your dining reservations are what you expect.

 

Of important note, the Makers Mark bourbon smash I ordered was perfect.  Since the restart in 2022, we have found mixed drinks to be very uneven in preparation, usually trending towards poor.  They just have not seemed to train the bar staff that well. Based on 2 or 3 mixed drinks so far, the Oosterdam gets high marks in this area.  I hope it continues.

 

We sent our first bag of laundry out at breakfast and it was back just before we left for dinner.  And of course there was a nice note in the basket from the laundry team.  A very nice HAL touch.  We love free laundry!

 

Also found it interesting that the daily program had a special section about pool etiquette.  It highlighted that chairs could not be held for more than 30 minutes. There was also a chat comment on Navigator about it distributed to all guests.  We are not pool users so not sure how well it was enforced.

 

We went to donner at our 7:45pm fixed time and am very happy to report that the service was much improved over last night when things were chaotic.  Drinks were quickly delivered and we noted we wanted to be done by 8:45 so we could attend the 9pm show. We were done by 8:30pm!  The food was very good, served hot and fresh.  We both started with the salad, and then I ad the parmesan chicken and my sister had the salmon.  We were pleased with receiving more vegetables on our plate than we have seen in the past recent cruises, but the portions were much larger in general than we have seen.  Dessert was a mango mousse terrine and chocolate coconut napoleon.  The mango won as the napoleon was dry?!?  

 

We have heard that late dining is not very popular, but that is not the case on this voyage.  The third floor of the dining room is busy at that time.

 

We went to the show last night at 9pm featuring British singer (and comedian) Michelle Montuori.  I have heard from other live reviews that there is a trend towards multi-talented performers and Michelle had a great voice and was pretty funny.  She made many jokes about her ex-husband and current husband.  She will be the guest at Coffee Talk tomorrow morning and that should be fun.  I commented to my sister she would be fun to have a few G&Ts with.  She sang 7-8 songs ranging from Dean Martin, La Vie en Rose (without musical accompaniment) to Adele, Meghan Trainor and Bruno Mars.  She had great range and noted she does change some jokes and a song or two base don her read of the audience.  She will have another show later in the cruise.

[Ready2go11]

chocolate napoleon

Pinnacle brownie

 

mango terrine

parmesan chicken

 

pinnacle burger

carpaccio

Edited April 7 by Ready2go11

[Ready2go11]

Cheat Sheet of the voyage.  We took a photo of this that the spa booking agent had available. Love the at a glance and will provide feedback they should offer this to guests,

photo of Friday loading.  So much stuff!

Mariner's reception- good crowd but not crowded

dinner menu page 1 for Sat 4/6

\

dinner menu page 2, Sat 4/6

The 9pm show was not crowded at all!  Not sure what the 7:30pm show attendance was.

Edited April 7 by Ready2go11

[Ready2go11]

if anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.

[Wehwalt]

We are on board. We also watched the safety video after boarding and went to the muster station when instructed. The morning after embarkation, we got a letter informing us that we had either failed to watch the safety video or visit our muster station and setting forth safety procedures. And we found that they had reset the safety video sometime after we had watched it and so it played again before we could go to other TV.

 

We concur that the ship's a bit run down. Now back to your regularly scheduled LIVE.

[0106]

Thank you @Ready2go11 for this thread.  We were on the Oosterdam for 22 days in February and it is our favorite ship.  Keep your eye out for cooking demonstrations in The Rolling Stones lounge.  The German executive chef on our cruise was very entertaining. 

Are you participating in the M & G? If so, could you provide details.  Ours was held in the Crows Nest which was not a good venue for 110 people.  
 

I was surprised by how good the “surf” internet package was in Antarctica.  I hope it is just as good for you as you cross the Atlantic!

[mawvkysc]

5 hours ago, Ready2go11 said:

if anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.

Please let us know if the hours go forward overnight or at noon. Thanks

[Ready2go11]

6 hours ago, Wehwalt said:

 

We concur that the ship's a bit run down. Now back to your regularly scheduled LIVE.

I am not sure I would consider it run down.  Some decor is outdated for sure and it is not as "ship shape" as the Rotterdam but I would consider it to be in pretty good condition and as noted, clean.

 

I am also happy that after some first and second day jitters, service is improving and there are some outstanding crew members we have sent feedback through Navigator about.

[Ready2go11]

5 hours ago, 0106 said:

Thank you @Ready2go11 for this thread.  We were on the Oosterdam for 22 days in February and it is our favorite ship.  Keep your eye out for cooking demonstrations in The Rolling Stones lounge.  The German executive chef on our cruise was very entertaining. 

Are you participating in the M & G? If so, could you provide details.  Ours was held in the Crows Nest which was not a good venue for 110 people.  
 

I was surprised by how good the “surf” internet package was in Antarctica.  I hope it is just as good for you as you cross the Atlantic!

 

@0106 I followed your South American trip report closely and loved your commentary and penguin and iceberg photos!

 

The roll call event was held in the Crows Nest on the first full sea day and about 60 had signed up.  Unfortunately, we got busy doing other things and missed it entirely!  Anyone else who attended want to share any details??? 

[oakridger]

1 hour ago, mawvkysc said:

Please let us know if the hours go forward overnight or at noon. Thanks

 

@Ready2go11 I'm interested to know this too.  It seems to me that moving it at noon would be the best for crew. What do you think?

 

For me, I don't really care and just will go with the flow of whichever it is on Zuiderdam next month. 🙂

 

I've very happy to hear of the improved service so far and the added classical music performances!

 

~Nancy

[Wehwalt]

I'm onboard, as I said, and clocks go forward at 2 am. Last night and also tonight, then two nights off, and two more following to bring us even with the Azores. Below is tomorrow's schedule.

Edited April 7 by Wehwalt

[Ready2go11]

@mawvkysc and @oakridger  the time changes are overnight. I would prefer to lose an hour in the afternoon for guests and crew but it is what it is. We lose our second hour tonight with 5 total before we reach Spain. I thought it was a 6 hour difference to East Coast US but this would indicate only 5 
 

this cheat sheet shows the days it occurs 

Edited April 7 by Ready2go11

[mawvkysc]

I would prefer it in the daytime as well. We will see what our captain decides. If it is overnight I probably won’t make MDR breakfast. But that’s ok. 
 

That makes me curious. Please let us know how often MDR brunch occurs if at all. 
 

Thanks!!

 

Edit: It looks like only once if I’m looking at the cheat  sheet correctly. 😞 

Edited April 7 by mawvkysc

[Ready2go11]

The only brunch I know of is tomorrow from 10am to 12:30 in the dining room. This will be our first opportunity to try it. Past cruises have been too short or it was not offered on the longer ones.