Oosterdam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

It was a very nice experience overall, I appreciated the ambiance of the cruise, peaceful and respectful. I would have chosen another city instead of Souda, probably one in Croatia (Opatja, Splitz...) and see more of Crete instead of being two days in Malta.

Wonderful cruise on a wonderful cruise ship. We do regret not having an excursion planned for both Albania and Sicily. The port towns were not impressive.

This was a long cruise to many interesting places that would be hard to visit other than on a ship. We enjoyed the comfort of the ship after full days of sightseeing, made more challenging by an extreme heat wave. Our stateroom was cozy and we enjoyed our dinners in the dining room and at the specialty restaurants. We are happy to recommend this trip to others.

Sum the waitress was awesome and everyone at customer service deserves so much respect. We dealt with Daniel, Julio, Cardela, Melony and they were there for lost luggage, to lost hats, to lost souveniers and any other issues that came up.

We prefer smaller ships, easier to navigate and better service. It's a nice ship, best for middle-aged crowds that it caters too but overall a nice ship. Food was very good, breakfast was okay but we've had much better on other lines. Service was excellent, very nice people work on Holland and Carnival. Lines hiring from Indonesian, Philippines and similar usually have better service. The ports were beautiful, you're better of booking private group tours through Viator and TripAdvisor versus the ship, they price gouge massively through Holland when you can do pretty much every excursion for 50% less, especially if you're mobile and comfortable navigating on your own or renting cars. Car rentals work great in Rhodes and Argostoli. You definitely want a guided tour in Israel, security and immigration is very serious there so be aware of more time to disembark.

This was a cruise of a lifetime. Amazing ports of call.

The cruise was great. There were some disappointments on the ship, particularly with the food quality in the MDR and specialty restaurants. Cost cutting is highly apparent. Some of the fine experiences of the past are simply gone (like the Lincoln Center music venue). Entertainment is lacking. The excursions are terribly expensive and, in some instances, were very disappointing. If I were to do this again, many of the ports would just be "walk off" for excursion.

If you want flexible dining options DON’T travel on Holland America. Also, the beverage packages are confusing. First day experience was pretty awful. The dining room had a long wait so we thought, no problem we’ll go to the buffet or Lido deck. It was 7:45pm. Half of the food options were already closed and food selection was limited. I started with a salad. By the time I went back for my main course EVERYTHING was closed. I was confused- it was 8:00pm at the time. I thought for sure that this was a mistake but it wasn’t- they close the buffet at 8 pm and don’t open again until 10:30pm!!! The only way to get food at this time is to go back to dining room and wait or order room service. The beverage package is also confusing. We were traveling with our teenager and found out that his card did not include the drink package. When we found out, we stopped using his card but unfortunately we had already incurred $12.00 in charges. I went to customer service to explain the situation but they were unwilling to refund the charges. The problem is that none of the servers seem to know the rules/policies around beverage packages. Even the food and beverage manager refused to refund the amount even though we were way below our allowed 15 drinks per day. I asked him, if he was willing to lose a customer over $12.00 and basically he stated that would be my choice. Didn’t seem to care a bit about my business. As an advent cruise traveler, I will NEVER travel with Holland America again. Poor food selection, inflexible dining options and poor customer service by senior staff is enough to keep our family away!

Wonderful cruise and recommends to see so many cities and learn the history.

Blame the pandemic but Holland is not up to usual standards. Staff admitted as much. For a transatlantic crossing, the “nickel and dining by HAL was distasteful. Now they make it near impossible to bring your own water and they charge over $3 for a 12oz container-Not 16oz. If you want to bring bottle of wine or champagne aboard to DRINK IN YOUR CABIN, they now charge you a $20 corkage fee plus 18% service charge!!

The Oosterdam is an old worn down shop with a crew lacks training and a chef that has no idea. Horrible WiFi and terrible coffee.

Overall a good experience. Ship is nice an clean and the food is good as cruise ships go. The tours booked thru Holland America were pricey and not that good. Booking some with outside vendors gave us a much better experience. Generally, we would probably do it again.

Loved this cruise would do it again because there is so much to see in the ports and not enough time

It was a great experience. The staff was excellent, the captain and crew kept us well informed of location, sea and weather conditions. Programs in stops were very informative. Entertainment was very good. Food was outstanding. The cruise covered areas not many people ever get to see.

Embarkation soured us for the first few days of the cruise. Natural beauty overcame that. Keep your fingers crossed for weather. It makes a big difference. Entertainment was so bad that it overshadowed and otherwise excellent cruise.

The cruise was fantastic. Food was good, crew members were friendly, some shows were amazing

This Antarctic 22-day cruise was well worth it for the unforgettable experiences we had!

Overall my experience was good except running into that jerk at Port Stanley security!

your service is bad. I had to deal with three travel agents. The first one seemed to disappear. The second took the rest of the year off. The third one was good but was a little too late in the process. Holland would not deal with me because I used your agency. I hasd to continually go back to your to act as an intermediary. Very painful. Your agents did not want to handle Holland flight issues or payment. I was stuck trying to get things to work.

While I loved the ports, it may be a while before I choose Holland America again. The Oosterdam needs an overhaul. The wi-fi was spotty, some hot tubs didn’t work and some staff demonstrated a lack of communication skills in English(A passenger asked for Anisette. The server didn’t know what that was, but he knew “Sambuca”). In the main dining room, I resorted to pointing to the names of the dishes on the menu on more than one occasion because I observed my server struggling to understand what a table mate was asking. This transatlantic cruise seemed like a training cruise for new employees.