Oosterdam Review
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My sister and I booked a cruise to the Mexican Riviera on the Oosterdam; Nov.10th through Nov. 17th. My sister lives in San Diego, so a friend drove us right to the baggage drop off area. We had no problem with the check-in process. We had done the preliminary on-line check-in, so we were in and out in a matter of minutes. We were given our room/charge card, with a dining time of 8:30 PM. (We were hoping to change that time to 8 PM, and did later in the day, no problem.) Evidently, there was an on-line glitch and embarking was taking much longer than normal. We were given a number (36) and we sat down to wait our turn. A sweet little man that reminded us of Santa asked what number we had, and in a minute was back with the number that was boarding (21) Nice!
It took us about 30 minutes in line to embark on the ship, but met some fun people while we were going up the plank. One guy had a huge box filled with wine and champagne. We brought a few bottles ourselves.
We walked up to the Lido deck and had a little lunch. Roasted chicken, fresh salad and fruit. And of course the ships signature bread pudding with custard sauce. (Which we had every day of the cruise) Then it was on to check out our cabin for the next 7 days. Our cabin was #8027, outside balcony. The linens and towels were very nice. There were 2 bathrobes hanging up for our use. Bath and shampoo gels in little bottles (I like this better than the dispenser) and a well-stocked refrigerator. After a bit of juggling, we fit most of our things in the closet, shelves and found the drawers under the end of the bed as well as under the sofa, and filled the nightstand as well. There is also the vanity stool. The top opens! We packed our souvenirs in there. We went out on deck and watched as the Oosterdam pulled away from the docks, then went to our cabins to relax and wait for the infamous lifeboat drill. When the drill sounded, off we went to the designated station. Both of us had our jackets fastened fancifully but incorrectly, but there were employees who were helping everyone. Hopefully, we would not have a need to recall the procedure.