Oosterdam - Sydney to Aukland

We booked an inner cabin (5023).  The first night we hit rough seas and it sounded like a wrecking ball was hitting our cabin.  At 3 in the morning I called the front desk to report it and they said it was just rough seas, however we were unable to sleep all night with the vibration of the room and the banging.  In the morning I reported it to the front desk at which time the person I spoke to said that they had not heard of any other complaints, but she would look into it and get back to us.  By the end of that day, she had not gotten back to us, so I spoke to the customer relations Supervisor who said that if it happend again, call immediately and someone would be sent to the cabin.  Well, that night, again we hit rough seas and the same thing happened.  I called the desk and they sent an engineer who immediately heard the noise.  He told us that in the middle of the ship are two plates that are there to stabilize the ship in rough seas.  He also told us that other people had reported it (as opposed to what we were told at the desk). Obviously, this is a common problem, but when we first reported it, they spoke to us like they didn't know what we were talking about.  They moved us to a different cabin that night to sleep, and the next morning the Supervisor moved us permanently to a different cabin that did nt have that problem.  The Customer Relations Supervisor handled it in a professional manner (as opposed to the first two people we spoke to) and he comped us and our guests for a dinner at one of the restaurants.

Outside of the room problem the cruise was excellent.  The food was very good (no "WOW" factor, but very good) and our Stewart in the dining room was outstanding.  The entertainment was very good for the most part, with the highlight being when the ship's staff gave a presentation of their National Cultures (one night Phillipine and the other night Indonisian).

The only other negative feeling of the cruise is on one of the formal nights we had black and white pcitures taken as well as the ones they take of you when you enter the dining room.  We purchased the formal pictures (set of 5 for $99).  We went back to see the black and white photos and six of them were outstanding at which time we asked what the price would be.  $875 for the 6 photos which I found outrageous.  If we didn't want them developed and just receive a digital copy (CD) it would ONLY be $750.  That's more than $100 a photo just to take the photo and download it to CD.  While we loved the way the pictures came out, we passed on the offer as this asking price is rediculous.