That’s a mouthful. 

I was standing at a little round bar table talking to Oosterdam’s tech expert (texpert) trying to get my HAL Navigator App to work.  Water was dripping on my head.  I wasn’t the only one with tech problems.  I was in line for half an hour.  We are not novices.  There were several experienced app users in the queue.  The guy behind me was on the ship for the last cruise (I will explain collector cruises later) and the app worked fine, but when the clock flipped over to the next cruise it stopped working.  Each of us had our own unique problem.  It took the texpert a while with each passenger to get the app working.

The texpert told me the drip had been there all afternoon and pointed out a dry spot.  He had to reinstall the app and change my password.  Given inconsistent wi-fi coverage on Oosterdam I frequently get knocked off the app and have to relog in.  At least I now know how to make it work. It says something that when you finally get on line the app congratulates you.

Oosterdam was delivered in 2003, 23 years ago. It is not as old as the Grand Voyage ships that we usually sail on but she needs work.  Aside from the drip, lamination on the decking is separating, the door to our balcony rattles unless locked, our sink’s bowl finish is cracked and blistered, there are cracks in windows and some of the Thermopane has lost its seal so and semi permanently fogged.  

It’s not that they are not maintaining the ship.  The scrapers and painters are out in force.  The ship is Dutch spotless.  But she, followed by her sisters, is due for a complete refit next year, updating cabins, changing deck configurations, and modernizing the operating plant to make her more efficient.  I’m glad they are significantly investing in refitting their current fleet rather than building new and bigger ships.  These ships are comfortable.

We are settled into our stateroom and our steward Bambang, (He is the second “Bang” we have had as a room steward) has set up our room to our particular requests, Dee in the dining room remembers us from past cruises and helped us arrange a table for 9 for when the family joins us in a week.  I was walking down a hallway and one of the stewards called out “Hey Rich, Remember me?”  Samanatha, the Entertainment Director, an acquaintance from earlier cruises, told us the ship was at 107% capacity. Normally we are on ships below capacity.  On longer cruises many folks sail single but occupy a double room.  This cruise is the opposite with many kids adding “extras” to capacity.  We will be among those next week with our kids and grandkids. But even with the large number of people crew take the time to greet you and chat.

HAL has kicked up its entertainment.  Opening night featured a rep team of 12 now, instead of 8.  I thought it was one of the best shows I have seen on HAL, at least I did until the next night’s show, a tribute to Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon was even better.  The Jazz band in the Ocean Bar is also very good and this will probably be a favorite venue for us.

Se we’re settled in for a collector cruise.  I promised I would explain.  HAL offers long voyages, the Grand and Legendary branded cruises that Suzi and I like.  But they also offer collector cruises.  Seven to 14 day back to back (to back) cruises that you can make as long as you like.  One couple has been on for 6 weeks.  Some people are just on this seven day, Iberian Idyl, from Barcelona to Lisbon.  Some will stay on for the 13 day Mediterranean Eclipse cruise that follows.  The Kids and Grand Kids will join us in Lisbon and we all get off in Athens.  Had we wanted we could have stayed on the ship for another 7 days adding Corfu, Messina and Sorento. 

One thing that struck me on this “Collector Cruise” is that the shows are not as well attended as on the longer cruses even though the ship is fuller.  Samanatha tells me that because many of the shows repeat each segment so people collecting have seen them.  This means that instead of having to arrive 20 minutes early, we can just step in at the beginning of the show.  This may change next week because there is a big turnover for the eclipse.  Suzi and I will be collecting 20 days.