November 3, 2009: Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
	October 29 - November 1, 2009: Our Time in Fort Lauderdale
	Return to the Index for Our Panama Canal Cruise

Before we make our first stop on this cruise, it would probably be a good idea to familiarize you with the ship we are on. I'll do this by including on this page the pictures that we took in our stateroom, on the various outside decks, and inside in the various public areas. For example, we were in and out of our stateroom all the time, and we took pictures there on lots of different days. It just makes sense to bring them all together in one place (and eliminate repetition). The same is true for the various outside decks and the various public areas. Some of the public areas, such as the dining areas, will be shown on pages a bit later on.

For now, let's begin with some information about the Oosterdam itself. Then I can show you our stateroom, we can move to the various decks, and I can show you some of the public areas.

Holland America's MS Oosterdam

Dedicated in July 2003, by HRH Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, the MS Oosterdam is one of the many ships in the Holland America fleet. (The Holland America Line is a division of Carnival Corporation.) As the second addition to Holland America's Vista-class of ships, Oosterdam is sister to the MS Noordam, MS Westerdam, and MS Zuiderdam. The ship's name is derived from the Dutch translation for the eastern compass point, and is pronounced "OH-ster-dam."

The passenger capacity of the ship is 1,916, with space for 817 crew. It is a mid-size ship, 936 feet long and 106 feet wide, and its gross tonnage is 82,300. It has a maximum speed of 24 knots through the water. The Oosterdam is not by any means a "mega" ship like many of those popular today. Other ships we'd been on had more spectacular architectural features (like the nine-story atrium on our first ship, Royal Caribbeans "Jewel of the Seas") or amenities (like the large movie theater on Celebrity's "Century"). But it was certainly large enough and quite comfortable. We didn't partake of all of its features, but there was a free Digital Workshop; a Culinary Arts Center a demonstration kitchen offering interactive gourmet cooking lessons; the Greenhouse Spa & Salon; the Pinnacle Grill, a small, reservations-only venue (where we ate twice) offering premium beef and seafood; the Explorations Café, which was a library and coffee house environment; the Crow's Nest, offering sweeping 270° views; and, of course the Vista Lounge- the large showroom where we saw shows almost every evening. You'll see some of the pictures we took of these areas a bit later on.

The Layout of the MS Oosterdam: Deck Schematics

It's probably a good idea to orient you first of all to the layout of the ship- at least those parts that we visited. A few of the decks are entirely staterooms, and we never went to any of them except the deck on which our own stateroom was located. But most of the decks contained public spaces that we DID frequent (although many of them also had sections of staterooms), and I thought that I would first show you the plans of those decks, so that when we talk about the public areas and venues later, you'll have some idea of where we are on the ship.

Deck 7: Rotterdam Deck

Let's begin not at the top or bottom, but with our own deck- the Rotterdam Deck- Deck 7.

At left is a scrolling window that holds the deck plan for our deck. If you use the scroll bar at the bottom of the window, you can scroll left and right across the plan of this deck. As with all the deck plans, we will put the bow ("front" or "forward") of the ship at the left and, of course the stern ("back" or "aft") of the ship at the right. Obviously, this means that the right ("starboard") side of the ship is at the top and the left ("port") side of the ship is at the bottom.

Getting from our stateroom to anyplace else on the ship simply depended on whether our destination was forward or aft. If it was aft, like the dining room, we simply left our stateroom, turned left, walked a few feet and out into the elevator/stair lobby. Then we either walked up a couple of flights to the buffet, or down four flights to the dining room. Forward locations, such as the gym, were most conveniently reached by going forward down the hallway right outside our stateroom until we got to the forward elevator/stair lobby. Then we could go up a few flights and be right outside the gym, or down a few flights and be right outside the Vista Lounge.

Of course, we could walk forward and aft on any deck, but the public decks are harder to navigate, as they are more crowded and because you have to go through or around things like the casino or the shops. So to get quickly from one end of the ship to the other, we either used our own deck or one of the upper, open decks.

Deck 9: The Lido Deck

The Lido Deck takes is name from the Lido Restaurant that is the main feature of the deck. This is where the traditional buffet is located, and we usually reached it via the aft stairways. Unlike some other cruises, Holland America doesn't have the full buffet in the evenings. In the evenings, only one side of the buffet is open and the choices are more limited. I guess they figure most people who want a big meal will eat in the dining room. But sometimes, we got tired of sitting through five courses in the dining room, and ate up here.

Also on this deck, we spent a good deal of time at the stern, looking out the way we had come. The stern was also accessible via the aft stairways. On either side of the ship near the stern were outside stairs that led up to Deck 10, which we'll look at in a moment. The aft stairways ended at the Lido Deck, so if we wanted to get to Deck 10 from our stateroom, we'd either have to use the elevator or follow the route shown on the deck plan.

Forward of the Lido Restaurant is the main swimming pool, and around it there are tables and chairs where you can eat lunch or breakfast (or dinner, if you want to carry food a longer distance). I've marked the spot where we usually met for breakfast. I've also marked the location of the grill that's open all day; it serves hamburgers and hot dogs and French fries all day long. (There was also a taco bar that was open until six or seven in the evening.) After shore excursions, we would usually come up here for a snack by the pool, before heading to the gym or doing something else.

At the forward starboard corner of the pool area is an enclosed spiral staircase that is the best way to get up to Deck 10 from this area. Inside, and forward of the pool is the forward elevator/stair lobby, and when we went to the gym we typically came up these stairs from the Rotterdam Deck. That way, we didn't have to go through public areas with our gym clothes on. The Fitness Center itself was a really good one, although the recumbent bikes didn't have their own TVs and earpieces. Most times, though, we were here late enough that it was pretty much empty, and I could turn up the volume on the TVs hanging from the ceiling in front of the treadmills you can see on the diagram.

Deck 10: The Observation Deck

The Observation Deck is mostly open deck space, at least along the sides of the ship. The two prominent features on this deck amidships are the stacks, which are the large unlabeled area on the diagram below, and the retractable swimming pool cover that can be closed so the Lido Deck pool can be used in inclement weather. It was quite a sight to watch the huge covers open and close.

Along the sides of this deck, which people used mainly for strolling or getting some sun, there are good opportunities for taking pictures- but not all the way along the deck. The deck area on either side of the stacks has a high plexiglas wall- and I am not sure why. There were shuffleboard alleys in this area, but I can't imagine anyone lofting a puck high enough to make it over a rail (seeing as how from the rail down to the deck is closed). The glass walls did shield the area from the wind, though, and maybe that was the intent. What that meant, though, was that while we walked through these areas on either side frequently, from the stairs up from the Lido deck aft to the baffles forward, we didn't take any pictures from this area. An area stretching thirty or forty feet from the aft stairs, and the area alongside the pool cover were open though, with just chest-high wood rails and enclosures below, and so when we wanted to take pictures coming into a port or something like that, we could do so from here.

All the way forward on this deck was the Crow's Nest Lounge. Here, in addition to the normal accoutrements of a bar/lounge, there were banquettes all along the arc at the windows forward, and this was a great place to get a view ahead. (I might point out that it was just about the ONLY place to do so. On this ship, as on the Celebrity Century, there was no way to get out to the actual bow of the ship, which was down on deck 4. There was also an observation area right in front of the gym on deck 9 that went along the arc of windows forward in the gym. Fortunately, they did allow access to the bow on the day we went through the Panama Canal; I would have been very disappointed, and not just a little irate, had they not done so.

Deck 3: The Promenade Deck

Although we were on Deck 4 a few times, when the ship allowed access to the bow, it was entirely staterooms. Let's go down to the Promenade Deck, one of the two decks devoted entirely to public spaces. At the bow one could access the balcony of the Vista Lounge- the main showroom onboard. We didn't usually sit in the balcony, although we did once or twice. The view was usually better from the main floor. Just aft of the Vista Lounge there were two public spaces where we spent a lot of time. On the starboard side of the ship was the movie theatre. Although it was relatively small, with perhaps a 120-inch projection screen, it was comfortable enough and we took in four or five movies during the cruise. On the opposite side of the ship were the two card and game rooms- the Half Moon Room and the Hudson Room. Unlike the Celebrity Century, there were no bridge lessons or duplicate games on this cruise, but Greg, Paul, Fred, myself and Bud and Chet took turns playing bridge here on every sea day and some others besides. Two new friends we made on board also used this room to play RummiKub a few times.

We totally skipped the "shopping opportunities" presented by the Arcade, but walked through it frequently. Aft of it where the midship elevators and stairs. Here, there were also two pairs of outside glass elevators on either side of the ship. We took these most of the time, since in addition to the ride up or down you got a view as well. You could also take these elevators down to the debarkation station for the shore excursions. Further aft was the three‑storey Atrium. On this level, there were winding stairs down to Deck 2 and the Atrium itself was surrounded by bars. In the evening, there was usually live music somewhere around the atrium on this level. You can see the stairs down both to Deck 2 and to Deck 1 here.

Finally, all the way aft on this level was the upper level for the Vista Dining Room. The dining room itself was open in the center to the deck below, and there were winding stairs up and down. I supposed that out of the nineteen nights we were on the cruise, we ate here twelve of them. When we did, most of those were with all six of us, although there were a couple of times when the other guys were doing their own thing and it was just Fred and I.

Deck 2: The Lower Promenade Deck

The Lower Promenade Deck was also entirely public space. Forward, there was the main floor of the Vista Lounge (mis-labeled on the deck diagram). We watched shows here almost every night. Aft of the main showroom was the Piano Bar. Here, we joined Bud, Chet and Greg as they played on teams to "Name That Tune."

Further aft was a smaller showroom that we patronized a couple of times- once for the Passenger Talent Show (which was a great deal of fun). This venue used to be the theatre, until it was converted to the Culinary Arts Center. Crossing the midship elevator lobby (on this deck and below the glass elevators are totally enclosed) we come again to the Atrium. On this level portside was the Pinnacle Grill. Most cruise ships have these specialty restaurants that charge a fixed additional fee but serve more upscale food in a more intimate setting. We ate here twice. The first time was courtesy of American Express- one of the benefits for having Greg book our staterooms and put them on his AMEX card. The second time was for Greg's birthday, when all of us, including our two new RummiKub friends (who came to know all six of us) shared one large table.

Further aft starboard was the Explorer's Lounge. This area served coffee, pastries and drinks, and there was usually some live music, mostly subdued strings, and so it was a good place to just sit and relax. Finally, all the way aft was the main floor of the Vista Dining Room. As I said, we ate here quite a few times. Sometimes we were seated upstairs, sometimes down. Unlike our prior two cruises, dinner seating is variable; you can make a reservation for any time you wish. When it was just Fred and I, we never made reservations, but we never had to wait for a table. I found this arrangement easier to deal with than the fixed seatings on our first two cruises.

Deck 1: The Main Deck

The deck diagrams are a bit confusing when it comes to the Vista Lounge. One accessed the balcony from Deck 3. The main floor was accessed from Deck 2. But since the seating sloped down to the stage, there was another exit at the bottom (where the little banquettes are in this diagram), and this exit was actually on Deck 1.

This was about the only time we were on Deck 1. Other than the bottom of the Vista Lounge, the customer desks amidships and some crew areas aft, this deck was also mostly staterooms. (No balconies here, just windows.) When we went on a shore excursion (of which we signed up for five), our tickets always had us meeting here in the Vista Lounge. When it was time for our group to board the tender or take the gangway to the dock, our tour guide would lead us out the starboard lower exit from the lounge, down the starboard stateroom hall and to the midship stairs and elevators. The bottom of the Atrium was on this deck as well.

Deck A: Shore Debarkation/Embarkation

There is no diagram for this deck, since the only time passengers are on it is to leave or return to the ship. The passenger stairways and elevators amidships end here (those forward and aft end on Deck 1.) If memory serves, we always used the port side of the ship to leave and re-board, but I think I saw a duplicate set up on the starboard side. All that's here is the debarkation podium where your ship card is scanned to record that you have left, and a similar podium when you return. For returning passengers, there is also the ubiquitous X-ray screening, though it it not nearly so stringent as at airports.

Our Stateroom: Rotterdam Deck Number 7114

For this cruise, we continued the practice from our cruise last year and we booked an outside stateroom with a balcony. We got the most reasonable one we could; there were some much like ours that were just bigger, and then there were really large ones in the "mini-suite" category like the one Greg had to share with Paul. (You can see a couple of interior views of Greg's cabin here and here.)

We were quite comfortable on the Celebrity Century last year, and this cabin was no different. The picture at left is a stock shot from the Holland America website, but our room, as you'll see below, was pretty much just like that, although they have a regular chair at the desk and they've replaced the old TVs with flat screens.

Perhaps the diagram at right will add a bit of information to the stock shot, although I should point out that our room was just as in the picture, with the bed to the left as you come in. The diagram shows the mirror image room, like the one next to ours. On entering the cabin, the bathroom (quite a decent size) was on the left, while the right had wall was floor-to-ceiling cabinets and drawers for clothes and storage. There was also a mini-safe on one of the shelves. We had plenty of storage- actually more than on the Celebrity Century.

Moving into the cabin itself, the queen-size bed was on the left against a mirrored wall. Just beyond it there is a curtain that can be pulled out partway across the room, so someone can be on the couch with the light on while someone is in bed in the darkened room. The desk was on the opposite wall, and they have built a corner shelf to put the TV on, freeing up some more desk space underneath. One thing I would like to have had was more desk space, as we had the computer set up almost all the time, but you can't have everything. We put most of the bowls and glassware away to free up more space.

At the end of the room is the door to the balcony. It is a door that opens outward, not a sliding door. It was quite substantial, and when closed we couldn't hear anything outside. The balcony was about five by ten, large enough for two chairs and a footstool.

The bathroom was a bit different this time. On stepping up to enter it, the vanity was on the left, abutting the wall of the outside hallway. The commode was in the far corner and, unlike the Celebrity Century, we had a tub and shower on the right, rather than just a shower. (On the second or third day, we returned to the room to find that the shower curtain had been switched out and a new one put up. Presumably, this was scheduled maintenance as everyone's was changed. The new curtain wasn't quite long enough, though, and we asked our cabin steward to see if he could retrieve the old one. A day later, we had our full-length shower curtain back.)

All in all, the cabin was quite comfortable, especially since we spent so little time in it. One of these days we might splurge and get one of the mini-suites, but we were quite satisfied as it was- even for 19 days. Fred was experimenting one day with his panoramic settings, and he stitched together a partial panorama of our room. You can have a look at it below.

If you will click on the thumbnails below, you can see some other views of our stateroom- all taken by Fred:

Outside on Deck Aboard the MS Oosterdam

We spent quite a lot of our time aboard ship out on deck- taking pictures, just walking around, getting fresh air and so on. Since a lot of my narrative will refer to one deck or another, I thought it might be a good idea to orient you to them. This time, we'll begin on the top deck and work our way down.

Deck 11: The Sports Deck

The Sports Deck, Deck 11, is so named because it is on this deck that the basketball/volleyball court is located.

The Sports Deck is not continuous. It's like having two identical skyscrapers right next to each other; there's a 50th floor in each, but no way to go directly across from one to the other. One portion of the Sports Deck is at the bow of the ship, and the other is almost all the way back to the stern. It is on the back portion that the basketball court is found. The front portion, seen in the diagram at left, is an open deck area that arcs around the forward mast and radar towers. It is shielded from the wind by the same kind of smoked glass walls found down on deck 10, although here they are slanted inward. There are some lounge chairs around, so you can get sun but no wind. This may be important on some of the routes this particular ship follows.

On either side of the tower there is a stairway up from Deck 10, and these stairways are the only way (other than a crew elevator) to reach this deck. We didn't take many pictures from here; the smoked glass gets in the way. That's a shame, because this would be an excellent observation point to look forward at the sea ahead, and it would be an excellent place to observe the activities as the ship comes into a port.

As I said, we didn't take many pictures from here, but Fred did get a nice picture one day of the radar and communications equipment as he looked aft from the Sports Deck here at the front of the ship.

Deck 10: The Observation Deck

The Observation Deck is really the only totally open deck from bow to stern. Actually, the open part of the deck begins at the stairs down from the forward part of Deck 11, and you can see the stairs behind me here. I am actually standing at the rail on the starboard side of the ship just a few feet aft of that stairway. For a different view altogether, look at the same area at night.

The area on this deck forward of the Lido Pool cover was a prime viewing area. Here, on the starboard side, is the enclosure for the spiral stairway leading down to the Lido Pool area. We used this stairway frequently, usually to get from the restaurant up to the open deck after breakfast or lunch. You can see a couple of pictures taken inside the stairway if you click here or here. Also in this area is the octagonal roof that is directly over the hydro pool down forward of the Lido Pool. If you will click on the thumbnails below, you'll see some of the pictures we took of and from this area of Deck 10:

Aft of where these pictures were taken is the retractable cover for the Lido Pool. It is a huge mechanical affair, and the first we have seen on a ship. We presume it is to allow use of the pool during cool or rainy weather, and this ship does do quite a few itineraries that take it into cooler, rainier climes. The open deck runs along either side of the cover, and these lengths are the longest unobstructed viewing areas on the ship. Here is Fred along the rail early in the cruise. When we docked in San Diego, the same rail was covered with seagulls. On either side of the ship, just aft of the Lido Pool cover, the deck comes to a set of baffles that you have to navigate through to continue aft. Again, we presume that these baffles, which force you to execute a tight "S" curve, are to shelter the area beyond from the wind.

As you walk aft after the forward set of baffles, you pass long rows of perfectly aligned deck chairs and then you come to and pass through the aft baffles. Past these aft baffles, the glass wall ends the rail opens up. There are more deck chairs here, as you can see in this picture taken on the starboard side. There was good viewing to the side from these areas as well, although the deck chairs got in the way sometimes if there were a lot of people along the rail. Back towards the aft corner of this deck, you can look down to a stateroom balcony on deck 8. The balcony belongs to a larger suite, but I wouldn't like the idea of people looking down on me. At the aft end of this deck you can look out over the Sea View Pool to the view astern.

This as far astern as you can go on this deck. To continue aft, you have to descend a set of stairs down to the Lido Deck.

Deck 9: The Lido Deck

There is not much open deck space on the Lido Deck. Of course, when the pool cover is retracted, the pool is open to the sky, but there are walls with large glass windows along the side of the ship in this area. Forward of the Lido Pool on the starboard side is the spiral stairway up to the Observation Deck. All the way aft, past the Lido Restaurant, and through some doors you come outside to the Sea View Pool. Once you get outside, you can look back up at the very aft portion of the Observation Deck, and you can also see the stairs up to the basketball court on the aft portion of the Sports Deck. Have a look at all those features here. When you get to the pool you are out in the open and, if you can navigate your way through and around all the chaise lounges, tables and chairs, you can get to the stern of the ship. You can't actually look directly down at the water, though. There are staterooms and balconies below you. Again, this arrangement was unlike the last two ships we've been on. Taken from the aft rail on the Observation Deck, here is the Sea View Pool and the view astern.

There is one other open area on the Lido Deck, but not many people knew about it as it is a bit tricky to get to. If you head along the starboard side of the ship as if you were going to the Fitness Center, but instead of going into the gym continue down an angled hallway, you will come to a single door that leads outside, and to a narrow open deck that curves around in front of the forward windows of the Fitness Center. Except for our trip through the canal, I hardly ever saw anyone here. On canal transit day, Fred and I came up here after we'd gone through all the locks and it started to rain, just to see what the view was like. Fred took two pictures of this deck area- one of the starboard side and one of the port side.

Deck 3: The Promenade Deck

Take another look at the deck plan for the Promenade Deck:

Decking is represented by the areas covered by narrow parallel lines, and so you can see that on the Promenade Deck, you can walk all around the periphery of the ship. The Promenade Deck was particularly pleasant at night.

You will note that at the forward end, the walkway actually goes in front of the Vista Lounge. But it is like a tunnel- there are staterooms above you and crew facilities in front, so while you are crossing from one side of the ship to the other you can't see much. At the stern, it is a little different. The outside walkway goes around behind the upper level of the Vista Dining Room and you can actually look out at the ocean behind. But along the sides of the ship, you are walking a deck that is open to the outside. While there no deck directly above you, once again you can't see much because the lifeboats are hanging above you on their davits. (I didn't realize it before we were tendered into shore for the first time that the ships lifeboats were also it's tenders; I guess I thought that tenders would come out from shore. But tenders they were, and you'll see some pictures of them doing that duty later on.)

Promenade Deck Stern Walkway

As I said above, the outside Promenade Deck wraps around the aft windows of the upper level of the Vista Dining Room. On the other side of the walkway, it is open, so you can actually lean over the railing and look right down at the ocean behind you. The only time we came here was at night, when I filmed the inside of the dining room panning across to the ocean behind us. You can watch this movie with the player at left.

This deck did provide nice, long, straight, unobstructed walks along the sides of the ship. Because it was a continuous deck, it served the needs of the ship's joggers, too. If you will click on the thumbnail images below, you can see some of the pictures we took on the Promenade Deck.

Deck 4: At the Bow

On our first cruise, aboard Royal Caribbean's "Jewel of the Seas," we were able to get right out to the bow at any time, and I liked that a great deal. On the Celebrity Century, the bow was closed off and we never got out there. It was closed off on this ship, too, except for the day we went through the Panama Canal. That was our one and only time out to the bow, and we made the most of it. It was reachable at the end of the starboard stateroom corridor on Deck 4. It was, essentially, a big open area; the exact bow had a bowsprit that was inside a small railing, so you couldn't quite do the "king of the world" Titanic gig. But it was fun to be out there at least once, although in the future I'd like to find ships that have open bows (and sterns) all the time.

At the right are thumbnail images for four different pictures that Fred took of the bow. He was up on Deck 7 where the crew had opened an area in the front of the stateroom area just for the canal transit. (They had done the same on Decks 5 and 6.) Click on the thumbnails to view the pictures he took of the bow- and see if you can find me.

Main Public Areas Aboard the MS Oosterdam

In this last section of the page, I'd like to introduce you to the main public areas of the MS Oosterdam. We didn't spend a lot of time in some of them, but others are referred to frequently in the narratives that will follow. I think if you have an image in your mind of a particular area when it is mentioned, it will help you follow us on our travels around the ship. There aren't too many areas to cover, so we'll take them in no particular order.

Explorations Cafe and Library (Observation Deck, Deck 10, Starboard Forward)

Tucked away to the side of the Crow's Nest was an area called the Explorations Cafe. It was like a small Starbucks, with a coffee and dessert counter, reading tables and computer terminals and all surrounded by the library. Here you could read the newspapers (either brought aboard from shore or faxed), use the computers to surf the Internet (pricey, as on most ships) or just sit and read.

The Crow's Nest (Deck 10, Forward)

The Crow's Nest is a bar, lounge and relaxation area near the bow of the ship on Deck 10. It offers panoramic views out ahead and to the sides of the ship; it was an extremely popular place to be during the canal transit. Fred and I came up here often in the evenings to hear a very good performer, but I'll save that for the "Entertainment" section later on.

This was also the locale for the afternoon trivia contests, and Greg could always be counted on to be here. A good many of the pictures that we took here didn't turn out all that well. If you will click on the thumbnail images at right, you can see a couple of the better ones.

The Crow's Nest On the afternoon of our canal transit, I happened to be in the Crow's Nest with my camera, and made a movie of the entire lounge to supplement the pictures we'd taken before.

The Fitness Center (Lido Deck, Deck 9, Forward)

Fred and I spent some time in the Fitness Center every single day during the cruise. This is what helped us restrict our weight gain over the four weeks we were away from home to rounding errors. The center had an array of cardio machines in an arc around the forward portion of the large room; behind those were two more rows of machines, including the recumbent bikes. On the left side as you face forward were the weight machines, many of them similar to those at my own gym here in Dallas. On the right side were the free weights and benches. Aft in the room was a mirrored wall and a large carpeted area that was used for exercise classes and yoga.

If you will click on the thumbnail images at the left, you can see the pictures that we took here in the Fitness Center.

The Lido Pool (Lido Deck, Deck 9, Midship)

The Lido Pool was aft of the Fitness Center and Spa and forward of the Lido Restaurant. It was the pool that could be covered when necessary. I didn't much care for the pool with the cover closed; it reminded me of a Holidome somewhere in the upper Midwest. With the cover open and the sun out, though, it was a nice place for breakfast or our afternoon snacks. Although we never took the opportunity to play, at the forward end of the pool there was a gigantic chess set. Also at this end of the pool was a large spa.

If you will click on the thumbnail images below, you can see some other views of the Lido Pool:

The Lido Restaurant (Lido Deck, Deck 9, Midship)

For all the time we spent in the Lido Restaurant (breakfast each day, lunch on sea days, snacks almost every day and dinner five or six times) we didn't take a lot of pictures here. The restaurant had a large serving area in the middle, with serving lines on each side- separated by cuisine. There was another, smaller area aft of that where you could always find salads and fruit. Drinks were at either end of the large serving area. There were seating areas along the windows on both sides of the ship, and another seating area forward of the serving stations. More often than not, we carried our meals either forward to the area aft of the Lido Pool, or aft out onto the open deck at the stern.

At night, one area of the restaurant was sectioned off and became the Canaletto Restaurant serving upscale Italian cuisine. Unlike the Pinnacle Grill, this "restaurant" didn't charge an additional fee, but you did need reservations. We ate there twice. Also at night, the buffet is more limited, as most people seemed to eat in the Vista Dining Room.

If you will click on the thumbnail images at right, you can see the best of the few pictures we did take in the Lido Restaurant.

The Sea View Pool Area (Lido Deck, Deck 9, Aft)

At the very back of the ship on the Lido Deck was the second swimming pool aboard. The Sea View Pool, shown at left, was surrounded on three sides by lots of chaise lounges as well as some tables and chairs. Off to one side, there was a bar, and there were also two spas at the forward end of the pool.

The pool was a great place to relax on sunny days, although we were usually so busy we didn't do much of that. On the aft pool ledge, there were four fanciful sculptures that added a lot of color to the area. On either side of the deck here were sets of stairs that led up to the Observation Deck.

The Sea View Pool One afternoon, after we'd returned to the ship from a shore excursion in Mexico, we happened to come up to this deck and I made a movie just looking around the area.

The Atrium (Decks 3, 2 & 1, Midship)

Here on the MS Oosterdam, there was a three‑storey Atrium area, similar to that on Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas, but this one was much smaller- only three decks high rather than seven, much narrower, and without the glass elevators. It was a nice place to come walk, though, surrounded by small lounges on Decks 1 and 2, and larger bars and the Pinnacle Grill on Deck 3. The Atrium is distinguished by the large globe that is suspended from the ceiling of Deck 3, the carpeted stairs that lead from deck to deck, and all the brass used in the railings and accents.

If you will click on the thumbnail images below, you can see some more of the pictures we took here in the Atrium:

I filmed a movie to show you the atrium. I filmed it from Deck 3, just outside the Pinnacle Grill, and you'll get to see the entire atrium area.

The Vista Dining Room (Decks 3 & 2, Aft)

The Vista Dining Room is the MS Oosterdam's main dining room. This was the first time that we'd been on a ship that didn't have two seatings for each meal, and where you needed to go to your particular seating at a particular time. This dining room was more like a restaurant where you could make reservations. Although we never did, Fred and I had no problem and no wait the couple of times we went by ourselves. When it was all six of us, or all eight including Steve and Gary, we did make reservations, but again we saw lots of empty space throughout the room, and I don't think that having the reservations made any difference.

The Vista Dining Room had an upper level and lower level. The main entrance and reservation desk was on the lower level, Deck 2. If the table they took you to was on the upper level, you usually took the stairs or elevator right by the entrance. We sat on both levels when it was just us, and we were always on the lower level when it was the six or eight of us.

The food was great most of the time, although there was the occasional overdone steak or dry fish. Sometimes we got tired of sitting through five courses, and we just went to the Lido, but it was nice being served in some semblance of style. If you will click on the thumbnail images at left, you can see the pictures that we took of the Vista Dining Room. (There will be others later under the heading of "Food and Drink."

The Half Moon Card Room (Promenade Deck, Deck 3, Port Midship)

The MS Oosterdam did not offer bridge instruction or duplicate games, undoubtedly because there were so few sea days relative to the number of days in port. But that didn't mean that there weren't quite a few bridge players aboard. When we played, we played in the large Half Moon Room or the smaller Hudson Room. More often than not, there were five or six other tables of players, plus folks playing other games as well. When we played RummiKub with Steve and Gary, we played here also.

We alternated among the six of us playing, and we tried to play each day that there was time (all sea days and a couple of others). When possible, I sat out so that I could help one of the newbies- Paul and Fred- or observe the other guys. We only brought our cameras to the card sessions twice, so we don't have many pictures (and not really any of the room itself). But if you'll click on the thumbnail images at right, you can see the pictures we did take.

I might mention here that outside the card room, in the area just aft of it and the screening room, there was a large world map on the wall, with the time and our location on a large digital display above it. There was also an information terminal that you could use to get all the latest weather and ship information. The map had our route marked on it, with little lights to indicate the ports, and as the cruise proceeded, the route changed color to show our progress.

As I mentioned above, there was an "information station" in the hallway area between the card rooms and the screening room. We stopped here frequently to check our progress. At one point, Fred made a movie of me explaining the route information on the world map, and the movie turned out to be comic.

The Vista Lounge (Promenade/Lower Promenade Decks, Decks 3 & 2, Forward)

The Vista Lounge was the main showroom aboard the MS Oosterdam. Here, every night but one, there was a show or performer of some kind. Later on, in a section devoted to on-board entertainment, I'll talk about some of these shows and performers, and you'll get a chance to see some pictures and movies of them.

For now, I just want to introduce you to the Vista Lounge, and show you some pictures of the room itself. Each of the showrooms on our cruises has been an opulent space, and the Vista Lounge was no exception. It takes up three decks. The balcony is entered from Deck 3, while the main floor is entered from Deck 2. Two interior staircases connect the two. The main floor slopes down from the Deck 2 entrance so that by the time you get to the banquettes right in front of the stage, you are actually on Deck 1.

On either side of the main room there were aisle stairs, and bordering them some really neat Art Deco lighting fixtures. We sometimes sat in the first row behind the banquettes- where the cross-theatre aisle was- and from there we could get good views across the theatre from floor to ceiling. Most times, though, we sat off to the starboard side a couple of rows up from the main floor, but there were excellent views from anywhere in the showroom- including the balcony.

We took lots of pictures here, and I've chosen a selection of Fred's (top row, below) and mine to show you. If you will click on the thumbnail images below, you can have a look at these pictures of the Vista Lounge:

The Piano Bar (Lower Promenade Deck, Decks 2, Starboard Midship)

Fred and I were in the Piano Bar two or three times, but Greg was there a lot more often. The shipboard pianist (also the moderator of the GLBT gatherings) held a "Name That Tune" event each evening. He'd either tell a story that had song titles inserted into it, or do some sort of theme. Either way, he'd play snippets of songs and teams scattered around the room wrote down the names. Small prizes went to the teams with the best scores.

This is exactly the kind of thing Greg likes, so he was there often on a team of folks he'd met. Fred and I, and often Bud, Chet, Paul and our new friends Steve and Gary would gather there also and offer moral support (and the occasional title). You can see a couple of pictures that Fred took when most of us were gathered in the Piano Bar here and here.

Ship Decoration

In this section, I want to include the pictures and movies that Fred and I took of the architectural and decorative elements aboard the Oosterdam. Here you'll find pictures that we might have taken of artwork and other decorative elements as well as the architectural detail of the ship. These pictures and movies were taken throughout the cruise, so rather than divide them by day, I'll group them by subject matter. Instead of an index, I'll just provide headings and you can scroll up and down as you wish.

Structural Decoration

Part of the decoration of a ship like this one is both structural/architectural and decorative. This applies to the decoration that is part of the ship itself. In this section, we'll take a look at some of the aspects of the floors, walls, ceilings, elevators and stairways that we thought were particularly decorative or unusual. As I've indicated elsewhere in the pages about this cruise, the Oosterdam was not so spectacularly-designed as some of the other ships we've been on, and so the decorative elements were not so "over-the-top." There are no eight-storey atria here. The architectural decoration was more understated, but there were interesting examples nevertheless.

If you want to see some of the ship decoration that falls into this category, just click on the thumbnail images below:

We found that some of the stairways on the ship were also architecturally interesting or decorated nicely. For example, there was the teak spiral staircase inside the enclosure that led from the Lido Deck to the Observation Deck. Inside the atrium, there was another spiral staircase, carpeted and with brass railings and glass side panels that we thought was quite nice. At either end of the ship and also midship there were main stairways, doubled in the middle and single on either side. As you can see in this picture of Fred on a main stairway landing, the landings were hung with pictures or medallions or other artwork.

The elevators were also interesting, particularly the metal doors done in a multicolored floral design. On either side of the ship, midship, there were outside glass elevators that were always interesting to ride in. Click on the thumbnails at left to see some views of and from the elevators.

We used the outside elevators frequently because the view was always interesting. Come and ride along with us as we return from a shore excursion and ride up to our stateroom deck.

Poolside

There were some interesting decorative touches around the two pools midship and at the stern; we went by the pools frequently, and some pictures of them appear on almost every page in this part of the album. Not all the interesting pictures are of architectural detail, though, as will be attested by this picture of a regulation sign at the Lido Pool. Click on the thumbnails at right to see some of the other decorative touches around the two pools.

Sculpture

Throughout the Oosterdam, as has been true on other ship, there was a multitude of decorative sculptural accents, from vases to figurines to statues. Some were very intricate and quite beautiful; some were plain but just as interesting. Relatively few of them were labeled, so I can't tell if they are original pieces or just copies of ancient art. I rather suspect that none of the pieces were extremely valuable (although it's hard to imagine someone sneaking one of them into his luggage!).

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

I've taken our many pictures of sculpture and put them into a slideshow, and you will find that show at left.

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at left and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

Wall Art

Some of the wall art on the Oosterdam took the form of medallions, bas relief sculptures or even larger pieces. These accents were found all over the ship; you can see an example from the Lido Restaurant here. Probably the largest wall sculpture sat in a niche high up in the side walls of the Vista Lounge showroom, and was a collection of musical instruments.

If you'd like to take a look at some additional pictures of these wall sculptures, just click on the thumbnail images below:

In the aft stairway there was a collection of oil-on-canvas pictures of various Holland-America ships- some old, some new- done in a very nautical style. We took pictures of the collection, and you can have a look at them if you click on the thumbnail images below:

There were various other pieces of artwork throughout the ship, and if you will click on the thumbnail images below you can have a look at some of them:

Furniture (Seating)

There were lots of chairs and benches scattered about the ship- some inside and some outside. They ranged from overstuffed chairs to simple benches. Take a look at some of the other interesting seating by clicking on the thumbnail images at left.

Floral

There was a profusion of floral arrangements on the ship throughout the cruise. Most of the flowers, it seemed, were orchids. At first we thought they might be incredible simulations, but in fact they were quite real. Every table in the Lido Restaurant had fresh orchids each day, and the Vista Dining Room had larger arrangements. There were also nice arrangements in the Crow's Nest Lounge.

Fred took a number of pictures of these arrangements, and you can see some of them if you click on the thumbnail images at left.

Miscellaneous Decoration

To conclude this section on ship decoration, I want to include some miscellaneous pictures that we took of other items of decoration or interest aboard ship. These pictures represent things that we found pretty or very decorative; they follow no particular pattern. From ships in bottles to clocks and lights- all these items were interesting in some way. Click on the thumbnail images below to have a look at them:

Well, now that you've seen the ship, it's time to take the cruise. We've already left Everglade Inlet at Fort Lauderdale, and tomorrow morning we'll be making our first port call- Holland America's private island at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas.

Lifeboat Procedures

Throughout the cruise, we used the lifeboats as tenders into shore and back to the ship. On our last trip to shore, which occurred in Cabo San Lucas, Fred and I came back to the ship separately (when I got lost from he and Greg and Paul and Bud and Chet which is a whole 'nother story that you'll read about on the album page for November 19th). Before we hooked up back on board, Fred made a movie of the crew hoisting one of the tenders back on board while I, unbeknownst to either of us, was taking pictures of that same process from a different vantage point on a different deck.

I took a couple of pictures from a forward position of lifeboat #16 as it reached its position on the Promenade deck, and you can take a look at those pictures here and here.

Raising a Lifeboat Fred took a rather long movie of lifeboat #16 coming aboard. I think the movie is as interesting for the camera angle as it is for the procedure. Your feeling that the Oosterdam is listing to starboard is just an illusion.

You can use the links below to continue to the album page for different day.

	November 3, 2009: Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
	October 29 - November 1, 2009: Our Time in Fort Lauderdale
	Return to the Index for Our Panama Canal Cruise