Even though we're just two hours by air from San Diego, we came in the night before and stayed at the Holiday Inn on the Bay. By staying in the South Tower, the bow of the Oosterdam was literally pointing at our balcony when we woke Saturday morning. Very Cool. Another advantage to that particular Holiday Inn location is that it's just a three block walk to a Rite Aid, which sells wine that can be taken aboard. A free shuttle, and a walk across the street to board make this an ideal location.

This was our first HAL cruise, and I have to say that after the first 5 minutes they treat their suite passengers very well. I'm glad I read on the CC board that we might have to ask for the suite check in line. It isn't at all obvious. And the man at the end of the line sure managed to look at us as if we were trying to cut in ahead of others. He seemed very surprised that we actually had the correct documentation to be there. We checked in and were told to wait on a bench against the wall. All we could think of was the old Arlo Guthrie song with the "group W bench", but in truth it was all good. A woman appeared to take us all aboard early, and we went to the Neptune Lounge.

It really didn't take long to understand why people love that Lounge. It was a very pleasant place to drop our luggage, have a couple of nice appetizers, some cold juice, and meet other passengers. Since our cabin was way back at the stern of the ship, we didn't think we'd use the Neptune Lounge much. We were wrong. We used it several times each day, for the great coffee, a quick snack, or help from the concierge. It is a very nice perk. Read more