The Good Old Ship Oosterdam

Oosterdam Cruise Review to South Pacific - Australia

Johnl

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 7

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

Sail date: March 01, 2014

Ship: Oosterdam

Cabin type: Suite

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 10 years ago

Review summary

The itinerary was appealing, but could have been improved by eliminating one NZ city and adding Hobart, Tasmania. There beverage policies were not appealing. Their new corkage policy is wildly unpopular with their HAL stalwarts. Only being able to pre-order room beverages but not after you get on board is also unpopular. Viking allows one person to buy the beverage package, but HAL requires both parties to buy it even if the other person doesn't drink. Does this eliminate abuse? Yes, but it also puts honest cruisers off.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Food quality was very good. The Pinnacle Grill was an excellent dining experience\, but the Italian venue was a small area separated by 3/4 partitions from the cafeteria venue. Really?

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Entertainment was fairly good with an excellent piano bar entertainer. Two days before a port\, I tried to book an additional excursion. The desk was not staffed. We filled out the form and dropped it in the slot. We never heard back one way or another about our request. With other cruise lines\, there is normally excursion staff available or a concierge to schedule additional excursions. You know\, I thought this was in a cruise lines self interest.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

HAL does a good job of training it's staff. They are hard working and friendly. Staffing levels leave something to be desired. The internet cafe had one tech. The excursions desk is rarely staffed.

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

The good ship Oosterdam is showing her age. My toilet broke twice and once overflowed sewage water into the hall. Our table mates showed us their Neptune suite. It's veranda was badly rusted and their curtains soiled. The wireless internet rarely worked and then in limited locations. It worked in my room once.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Room size was very good\, but not having concierge services for a room of that size and COST does not reflect favorable on HAL since competitors do.

Pros: Room size

Cons: Maintenance on a aging boat

Recommends Oosterdam? Yes!

1 Comment

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

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