Tag: ms Oosterdam

Special thanks to Oosterdam’s Security Officer Sajith Kumar S.V. for sending in these beautiful photos taken at Akaroa.

Journalist Ruth Taber currently is on board an 11-day cruise aboard Oosterdam and will be blogging throughout her voyages. Fifty-five years ago the s.s. Statendam left Hoboken, N.J. on the first “Grand World Voyage” – and fifty-five years ago today, January 26, 1958, my “best friend” and I tied the knot in NYC. What better…   read more of “Cruise Diary:…”

If you’ve been following my blog, you will know that we had a bit of a diversion and a change in the order of our ports en route to our first port of call, Port Vila on the island of Efate which is one of Vanuatu’s 83 islands. Three days after sailing from Sydney, we…   read more of “Vantage:…”

Last month in Tauranga, New Zealand, 11 crew members from the Oosterdam went on a crew tour to the Hobbiton Movie Set where the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were filmed. Everyone had a great time. Joe Reina is Oosterdam’s human resources manager.

We invited our Facebook fans to share with us their “Favorite HAL Ship of 2012.” Here are some more of the stunning entries. Thanks to all for sharing! This photo was taken of the Oosterdam in Apia, Samoa. My husband and I took the transpacific crossing from Vancouver to Sydney to celebrate our 25th wedding…   read more of “Facebook Fans Share…”

We invited our Facebook fans to share with us their “favorite HAL Ship of 2012.” Here are some of the stunning entries. Thanks to all for sharing!

We New Zealanders often think of New Zealand as two separate countries, divided by the Bombay Hills which are located just south of Auckland: “North of the Bombays” and “South of the Bombays.” Quite frankly, Auckland is a different place for us who live South of the Bombays — in the “rest” of New Zealand….   read more of “North of the…”

Do you dream in Hobbit? Often when we do the New Zealand cruise (which for us as Kiwis, is a great way to visit friends and family), people would naturally ask where we were from. I would respond, “here!” “Here??” would be my fellow passenger’s inquisitive, disbelieving reply. “Yes, here.” At which point, the passenger…   read more of “A Trip to…”