Had a great time!

Item: Oosterdam
Rating: 4
Author: TonyC3

Oosterdam Cruise Review to Mexico

TonyC3

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 67

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

Sail date: February 01, 2007

Ship: Oosterdam

Cabin type: Suite

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 17 years ago

Review summary

Having cruised 6 times on other HAL ships, the Oosterdam was a nice change as it is the first Vista class ship we sailed on. Embarkation was a bit slow as we needed a wheelchair and had to wait about an hour as there were only 4 men to do the job and about a dozen people waiting. HAL was made aware we would need a chair but it did not make any difference for embarkation. They have to stay with you until you are onboard so 4 wheelchairs were not enough. We rented a wheelchair that was in our stateroom when we arrived so that part worked out ok. At embarkation we were upgraded to a suite which was a nice surprise. We normally have a suite but none were available when we booked. The nightclub and casino bar were always hopping at night which is unusual to see for us as the carribean seems to have most folks in bed early. Not the February 3rd cruise. It was not unusual to be up until 3:00am or later. There was a great group from the UK on board and they were a lot of fun. Also - check your bill as I found a couple errors that HAL credited when we got home. Match each receipt to the bill. The errors were due to unreadable hand written drinks. Also, if you buy a drink card, check the price of the drinks you will be having as it may not be worth it. They make 15% off the sale of the $56 card and are not going to tell you this. I let the front desk know what is going on. A later cruise review will have to let us know if this has been corrected. Also saw more people than ever in the dining room at dinner wearing shorts, jeans or muscle shirts. You always see some but this cruise had a lot of folks that simply didn't care what they looked like.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Food was very good. The folks next to us sent a lot of items back but I thought some of those same items were great. Either we are not that finicky or some people are very hard to please. The beauty of a cruise is that you can try foods that you normally would not eat such as snails etc. Pinnacle for lunch was very good and the staff was very attentive and cordial. Steak was a bit dry on the surf and turf formal night.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Saw the male singer one night and wasn't impressed. Did not catch any other shows. The piano bar was always empty. Was actually standing at the final bingo for $3600 - didn't win it!

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Indonesian and Phillipino staff are why we stick with HAL. We know what we are getting. With the wheelchair, the crew did the driving every night in the dining room and during the suite lunch which made my life a lot easier. Now if the wife would only not have broken her foot 2 eays before we left!!!!

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

It was nice to see some color on the Lido instead of the drab orange colors it seems HAL always uses (stateroom was the same old drab orange and purple). Suite was great. On the Volendam you could always hear chairs being moved above you but the Vista class ships has suites two decks below. The HAL ships never seem crowded which is another reason to stay with them.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Suites are the way to go. The extra perks are great. They always fill up fast though. As always, the beds are very comfortable and on this ship the suites on the Rotterdam deck were very quiet. I noticed that the suites on the back of the ship are not private as anyone on the lido can look down and see you.

Pros: Whales. At sunrise near Cabo San Lucas you saw 20 - 30 blows in the sunlight. Very cool!

Cons: Booze Prices. Need more automatic restroom doors for handicapped as they were very heavy for my wife.

Recommends Oosterdam? Yes!

1 Comment

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

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